


Imperfect Pack

by myheartbelongstoexo



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, Wolf AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-23 10:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17078423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myheartbelongstoexo/pseuds/myheartbelongstoexo
Summary: As part of a punishment during a game night, Baekhyun spends the night alone in the woods, terrified. When he returns to his friends, they're gone.





	1. The smell of fear

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you'll enjoy reading my story! I will update this every day since the story is already finished ^^

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo have been friends for- how long now? Must have been at least ten years and they’re still close as ever. Right now, though, is the first time in a long while they’ve gone on a trip. The last time, they were both still in college, and now, they’re working adults – well, adults is quite a big word. They’re working though and could afford a little time off in the late days of spring.

They couldn’t very well leave Jongdae behind, as he’s been part of their group since a little later and, well, it’s always more fun with more people. It’s the reason Chanyeol is here too, even though Baekhyun was pretty unsure about that. Kyungsoo reassured him though, that he’d make sure Chanyeol wouldn’t be annoying. _Impossible_ , Baekhyun had said, but Kyungsoo knows him better than that and apparently, he knew he had wanted to give the lanky man another chance. Not in the last place because he knows of Baekhyun’s little crush. However, he should also know it’s horrible to accept the endless teasing of the tall man… But well, Baekhyun thinks, if Kyungsoo says he’ll keep Chanyeol in check, then that’s what he’ll do.

 

They’re sitting in the main area of the wooden cabin in the woods, cans of beer scattered around them as they’re playing board games. Pretty innocent, you’d think, but that’s far from the truth. A score is being kept – Kyungsoo takes this much too seriously – and the one with the most losses at the end of the night will face severe punishment.

“Yah Chanyeol, you’re cheating!” Baekhyun says, exasperated as Chanyeol’s move makes him unable to make the move he planned to, but nobody seemed to have been paying attention. Or maybe nobody seems to think Chanyeol cheats at all. Added to it, Baekhyun doesn’t particularly notice how his tongue feels a little thick, but the others do.

“Sore loser?” Jongdae teases and Kyungsoo laughs as he draws _another_ line behind Baekhyun’s name. He hasn’t even lost this game yet, though.

“ _Guys_ ,” he protests, squinting at the board, but his brow furrows, “alright, alright I’ll give up this time.” _This time_? How many times did he already say that? He glances at Kyungsoo’s slip of paper and feels himself get uncomfortable. “Okay this can’t be right,” he says, but looks at the cans around him. If these are all his, he had _way_ too much to drink – how did he not feel it coming? Sure his vision has been a little blurry for an hour or so, but that could also be because he should go to sleep sometime soon, right?

“Wow Baek, didn’t know it was this bad,” Jongdae says and rips the sheet of paper from Kyungsoo’s hand to examine it. “Shall I take this loss for you?” he proposes, but the cheeky smile on his face is all Baekhyun needs to know. It won’t make a difference now anyway.

“If anyone should, it’s me,” Chanyeol says, but his voice is quiet and it makes no sense, but Baekhyun can’t say anything makes sense to him as he’s pretty drunk.

“Ah fuck off, I’ll go pack my things,” Baekhyun says – slurs, he realizes. In his right mind, he probably wouldn’t have cursed either. Did he do that before as well? He shakes his head as if to let the thoughts out of his mind and then stands up. As he does, he sees Chanyeol doesn’t have any lines behind his name and it somehow angers him. “He cheats,” he accuses, pointing a wobbly finger, but everyone else just laughs at him. How could they not?

 

The cool air outside makes Baekhyun shiver. Not because it’s actually cold, but because the alcohol heated him up pretty badly and the cool wind feels that much colder. _How_ could he have been so stupid? Of course it’s Chanyeol – it has always been Chanyeol. Baekhyun shakes his head. Ever since they met, Chanyeol has been particularly difficult to him. He noticed soon enough that _one_ little detail said too much, would haunt him forever.

He chuckles at himself when he remembers complaining to Kyungsoo how the lanky man always remembers too much. Baekhyun remembers how he even stayed up at night, just trying to remember what he said to Chanyeol, just so he’d know if there would be anything the other could use against him. He shakes his head, no use thinking about it now.

But it’s too late as he trips over the root of a large tree and the tent he held under his arm, flies forward. Baekhyun sees the ground come closer, but is unable to regain his balance. He curses right when his wrist breaks the fall and his arm is covered in dirt. He has the mind to think about whether this was caused by him being drunk, or thinking of Chanyeol too much, but brushes it off as he stands up painfully.

“Why do these things happen to me,” he asks out loud, as there’s nobody around anyway. The only sound he hears, are the crickets, though he knows they’ll quiet down for the night soon. He sighs when he looks at his arm, sees it’s not as bad as he figured it would be, but that’s only because he fell on the forest ground.

He bends over carefully to pick up the tent and dreads the moment he has to go set it up all by himself. And _then_ he’ll have to pump up the air mattress and maybe then he can sleep. Sounds like an awful lot of work to be doing in the middle of the night, but Baekhyun has no other choice. He isn’t going to sleep _outside_ of a tent, neither is he planning to sleep on the floor without at least some form of comfort.

But it takes ages. Well, _hours_ , but it’s still too long to drunk Baekhyun’s liking. Occasionally, he groans when things don’t go right and to be honest, that’s all the time. The flashlight he set up, keeps falling over at the slightest gust of wind and it shrouds the world around him in darkness time and time again. It’s a good thing he brought a lot of water as it’s exhausting to do all of this alone. It also should help sobering up faster – Baekhyun isn’t quite sure of that at the moment.

As he’s busy, it’s easy to pretend he isn’t scared out here alone. All he has to do, is keep himself occupied and he won’t have to think, but he’s almost done and that’s scary. He crawls inside the tent to shove the air mattress in. He has a blanket, but now that he flopped on his belly and lies down finally, he doesn’t want to go grab it. He wants to close the tent though, at least, and he forces himself to turn back around one more time to zip the tent door closed. As if that will provide him with any form of protection.

It’s a good thing he is _so_ tired, because he falls asleep right after he lies back down. There was no time for him to think about his safety anymore – if he would have started, there’d have been no stopping. The same goes for thoughts about Chanyeol, though he still seems to haunt him in his dreams.

 

Baekhyun jolts awake, but doesn’t dare to move. He hears footsteps close by – _way_ to close by – and he doesn’t know whether it’s his mind playing tricks on him, or if it’s actually true. He holds his breath, to hear clearer, but wishes he didn’t. Someone is here, that much is certain and Baekhyun feels how cold sweat breaks out of every pore in his system. _Someone is here_ , the thought makes his heart pound loudly in his chest and he knows his breathing isn’t quiet either. Whoever’s out there surely must know of his presence.

The footsteps near and Baekhyun feels how a tear slips from his wide-open eye. What should he do? Should he go outside and ask why the hell the guys followed him? He has half a mind to yell that _it’s not funny_ , but he doesn’t dare to. His heartbeat sounds so loudly in his ears that he’s afraid it’s audible, even when he holds his breath for a few seconds. With the fear running through him, though, he can’t hold it for long.

For a little while, it’s like the person wandering around outside the tent, crouches down, as if examining something and Baekhyun wishes he could just _die_ already. He can’t handle this and he’s sure he’ll get a heart-attack soon, but somehow, he holds on to life. Several times, he opens his mouth, wants to say _leave_ , but doesn’t – he simply doesn’t dare to. Even though he knows the person outside must know he’s in there – why else would there be a tent? – but he still has the stupid thought that he shouldn’t give himself away.

But then, he hears the person gasp – and it _is_ right beside Baekhyun’s face – as another pair of footsteps sounds. He can’t make out what happens next, he only hears growls, whines, _howls_ , a massive struggle and then silence. For a good while, there’s silence around him, until he hears soft sobbing. The sound of someone crying ebbs away as the footsteps lead further back into the woods.

But Baekhyun still lies there, for the rest of the night. Eyes wide open, hand covering his mouth and drying tears down the sides of his face. Why does it take so long for the sun to rise? Why must it stay dark for such a long time? Why doesn’t he dare stand up and go outside? Will they come back? _Why_ did it sound like animals fighting? Surely, Baekhyun heard _footsteps_ , not paws, not the rhythmic sound of an animal walking by. Someone stopped by his tent and Baekhyun is not sure if he should have survived this at all.

\--

Though Kyungsoo and Jongdae seem to have endless trust in Baekhyun, Chanyeol doesn’t. When the short man has taken the tent with him and disappeared outside, the two others continue joking about how _drunk_ Baekhyun actually was. How irresponsible of them to let him go in that state, Chanyeol thinks, but then again, Baekhyun is an adult. They agreed on the punishment together – of course, even Chanyeol did, because he was certain Baekhyun was better than this and it wouldn’t be _him_ who’d have to stay out in the dark alone. What a mistake they’d made, he realizes, and about an hour after Baekhyun is gone, he makes up his mind and puts on his shoes.

“What’re you going to do?” Jongdae asks, curiously, before he pushes his wooden chair backwards with a screeching sound that’s too loud to Chanyeol’s ears. Jongdae follows him into the small hallway where they keep their shoes and stifles a yawn, clearly ready to go to bed. He eyes Chanyeol with a mischievous glint in his eyes though, as if he knows things he shouldn’t know. As if he thinks of things he shouldn’t think of.

“I’m going to check up on him,” Chanyeol merely says when he grabs a hoodie from one of the hooks, checks if it’s his and puts it on. He adjusts the hood and then buries one of his hands in the large front pocket. With the other, he opens the door.

“Don’t scare him, okay?” he hears Kyungsoo say, surprisingly serious after all the jokes they’d made about Baekhyun in the past hour. Chanyeol waits before he comes into his view and has to suppress a smile. “No perverted things,” Kyungsoo adds as a warning, but with a smile on his face. Chanyeol shakes his head and rakes a hand through his hair – he knew it would come to this at one time.

“Sometimes you guys really think you know me better than you do.” Chanyeol doesn’t wait for a reply and leaves into the cool night air of late spring, closing the door behind himself gently. When he follows the path, he thinks of what Baekhyun said one time when he had a few beers too many again. He’s afraid of the dark and doesn’t particularly like to be anywhere other than his home after the sun sets. It’s surprising to Chanyeol how he had seemed so cool about it when he stepped out a while ago. Maybe Jongdae and Kyungsoo don’t know about this _majorly important_ little detail? Or are they willing to let Baekhyun get scared for their own good fun?

Of course Chanyeol is no saint either. Seeing how easily Baekhyun gets flustered around him, of course he has taken plenty advantage of that. With a smile, he remembers one time when he turned off the light, during a night they got together to tell horror stories. Kyungsoo and Jongdae had gone out to the convenience store to buy some ice-cream and temporarily, it was just Chanyeol and Baekhyun in Kyungsoo’s apartment. Of course the tension rose quickly and Chanyeol wanted to lessen it with a joke – that turned out not to be funny to Baekhyun at all.

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun had said, panic already clear in his voice, but Chanyeol wanted to see just how bad this fear was and didn’t give in just yet. “Guys?” the short boy tried again, “Anyone?” As Baekhyun continued telling him how it was _not_ funny at all, Chanyeol found him in the dark by the sound of his voice. He grabbed the short boy by the shoulders, with his back turned towards Chanyeol, but Baekhyun screamed and blindly tried attacking his attacker. Chanyeol thought it time to stop scaring him there, realizing the mistake he made was pretty big. He held the boy in a tight grip.

“Baekhyun it’s just me,” he said, “I just pulled a stupid prank, I’m sorry.” Baekhyun stopped resisting soon after.

 

But Baekhyun still hasn’t forgiven him, Chanyeol realizes. But as much of a stupid idea that was, it was innocent and this is not. Chanyeol knows there are wolves around here, werewolves. They wouldn’t actively seek anyone out or do harm, but he still doesn’t feel good about Baekhyun being out here alone. If it had been anyone else, he might have felt different, but over Baekhyun, he started feeling protective.

What he knows about werewolves doesn’t make him feel any more at ease either. Appearing as humans at one point, then turning and being able to rip someone apart. Even in their human forms, they’re said to be strong, have enhanced senses and a strong sense of community with their packs. Chanyeol doesn’t know why he has always had such a fascination for the species, but now that this is the chosen destination for their week off, he’s glad he read into them. He silently laughs at himself for a short moment though – he wouldn’t stand a chance if he had to fight any of them, whether he knows about them or not.

When he wanders around in thought, searching for the man he doesn’t really dare call his friend, he stumbles upon a feeling, a scent and that in itself shocks Chanyeol. It’s not from his own experience that he knows it’s a werewolf he senses nearby, but that doesn’t make him any less sure of it.

Right when Baekhyun’s tent comes into view, Chanyeol sees a man crouching down next to it. Chanyeol feels the surge of protectiveness he felt when he left the cabin to search for Baekhyun, but it’s several times stronger now. He doesn’t say anything, afraid he’ll alert Baekhyun of what’s going on, but he is noticed by the intruder quickly anyway. It was probably because the man was busy trying to figure something out at Baekhyun’s tent that he didn’t notice Chanyeol’s presence earlier.

The reflection of the moon’s light in the man’s eyes, is all Chanyeol needs to be sure. He doesn’t have time to react though. The man is only slightly shorter than Chanyeol is and stands before him in a split second. Chanyeol holds up his arms to defend himself, but the werewolf is so much faster. With the grip of a strong hand, Chanyeol’s hoodie is shoved aside and his shoulder is bared. No more than an instant later, teeth sink in his skin and Chanyeol screams – doesn’t realize that it sounds like an animalistic whine. He doubles over in intense pain and doesn’t seem to be able to get back up to where he just was.

He flinches when the man before him – who seems to stand so much taller than Chanyeol now – howls and beckons Chanyeol to come with him. He doesn’t comply – he _can’t_ comply because who stands before him, isn’t his alpha. Nowhere in his right mind would he even have thought of that before, but it’s his instincts that tell him to bare his teeth at the wolf before him, as if he isn’t bleeding, as if Chanyeol is the threat himself.

The wolf doesn’t leave him alone, doesn’t leave Baekhyun’s immediate vicinity and it enrages Chanyeol. There’s a distracting smell though and Chanyeol has difficulty focusing because of it – and not only that, he’s _just_ been bitten. He doesn’t know how to deal with this at all, he only has the instincts to keep Baekhyun safe, but he can’t yet.

He clashes with the werewolf that turned him just now and canines pierce his skin and rip it at every opportunity they get. Chanyeol does his best to fight back and it might be his slightly taller form that gives him only the littlest advantage. The wolf retreats somewhere he doesn’t see and Chanyeol doesn’t believe it’s necessary to follow behind him. All he needs to do–

Something he already failed to, he realizes. The distracting smell is none other than Baekhyun’s fear oozing from the tent. Another piercing stench is the blood that’s all over him, he sees the leaves below him are drenched in his blood. He doesn’t know if it’s because of the night that he doesn’t see that it’s red, or because… because he’s turned into a werewolf – and can’t see reds.

Chanyeol knows it’s hardly the time to panic about that though – he isn’t one to panic quickly anyway – but he does need to see to it that Baekhyun doesn’t see him like this. He knows he’s part of the reason why the short man is so scared right now and he can’t face him. Heck, Baekhyun wouldn’t even know it’s Chanyeol if he shoved himself in his face.

He must get out of here as soon as he can though, even with his body protesting madly. He knows the werewolf got him good – _too_ good – and it wouldn’t surprise him if his entire body is covered in blood, with that metallic smell all around him. He stumbles away, doing his best not to run into any trees, and heads in the direction of the cabin. He isn’t entirely aware of that; he would have turned a different way if he was, because as much as Baekhyun shouldn’t find out he’s not so much who he used to be before, neither should Kyungsoo and Jongdae.

Thankfully, Chanyeol passes a stream of gently flowing water. He can at least clean himself up now – but wait, he can’t. He doesn’t have hands to scoop up the water and wash himself with it and he sure as hell isn’t going to take a bath in it. He’s not so sure he won’t drown and he’s not at all willing to risk it.

Exhausted as he is, Chanyeol has half a mind to think of the possibility Baekhyun could pass by here and that he needs to make sure not to be in view. Because he needs to lie down, he realizes – Chanyeol is more than exhausted and he can’t do a very good job of protecting Baekhyun like this. That’s why he finds a nearby bush and lays himself down comfortably to close his eyes.

If he hadn’t been bitten by a werewolf and he wasn’t so focused on protecting Baekhyun, he would have thought more about his other friends. Are _they_ even safe? Chanyeol has no idea and at the moment, he doesn’t care; at the moment, he needs to sleep.


	2. Distracted

Werewolves. There is no other explanation. A shiver passes through Baekhyun’s entire body because of the thought. He knows precisely _nothing_ about werewolves. Ever since he was young, he’s been scared out of his mind of the species and steered well clear of them – in every possible way. He remembers how he saw a movie once – he couldn’t sleep for weeks. To be honest, he doesn’t know if they were portrayed realistically, but he doesn’t want to know, he doesn’t _dare_. 

Why does he have the kind of luck to run into them anyway? He wipes the tears from his face and only then notices the headache. Is this because of the alcohol? Or because of the scene happening right outside his tent that he heard way too clearly? Because he’s been thinking about it way too much? He doesn’t know why he even thinks of it and sits up straight once the first sunrays hit the top of the tent.

It should be safe to go out now, Baekhyun thinks, but he’s shaky and he’s not surprised by that at all. The noise he makes when he simply shifts on the mattress, is enough to have him flinch and sit still for another few minutes. He curses at himself, he should _behave_ already, but it’s difficult. He doesn’t understand; normally, he’s carefree, he laughs things off all the time, but he can’t right now. Even if he reasons that it was just a bad dream, his heartrate is still uneven.

But he has to get out, that much is clear. Whatever he’ll face when he gets there, he can only see when he takes that step. So even though he bites his lip in concentration to be quiet, when Baekhyun zips the tent door open, it makes a hell of  a lot of noise to his strained ears. They’re gone by now, he says to himself, _calm down, they’re gone_.

Once outside, the air feels a lot less heavy and Baekhyun feels like he can finally breathe. He frowns when he pokes his head back inside the tent and all becomes clear. It’s suffocating with the smell of his own fear and yet another shiver travels his spine as he thinks of the reason why. He makes up his mind – he’s not sleeping there again, whatever may happen.

The pounding in his head worsens when Baekhyun looks for the bottle of water, only to find it empty. He sighs deeply, knows he’ll have to wait until he either comes by a river – he has _no_ recollection of how he got here last night, so he doesn’t know whether or not he passed one – or until he returns to the cabin.

The guys must have slept so well, he thinks as he leaves his temporary home behind, with no intention to pack up. The first thing he’ll have to do, is get back to the others and make sure they’re okay. He grins to himself, _of course_ they’re okay. There’s absolutely no reason… his mind halts when he sees blood on fallen leaves. Instantly, his heart pounds against his ribcage again. He turns to look at the tent – just a few meters away. From the looks of it, the blood isn’t old and it wouldn’t surprise Baekhyun if it is from the struggle he heard.

He sees the blood left a trail further into the woods, away from the path Baekhyun was planning to take. He doesn’t know why his feet don’t let him go back to the cabin, of course this is the wrong move to make. Still, he follows the trail of blood, though it gradually grows more difficult to see. The bleeding must have stopped somewhere along the way.

_Why_ must he be so curious? Why must he go on and follow _blood_ , of all things? Baekhyun doesn’t know, he’s always been like this. His curiosity for alcohol in his younger days even led him here in the woods in the first place. He shakes his head, he can be so stupid sometimes, and even when he’s fully aware of it, he can’t just stop.

Baekhyun picks up on the sound of water nearby and his heart finally leaps with joy for a moment and he speeds up his pace to get there. He squints against the pain in his head, but knows it won’t last _too_ long anymore. He even has the heart to chuckle when he thinks of how Kyungsoo and Jongdae would react. Baekhyun messed up so badly and this is so much his own fault, they wouldn’t do any other than make fun of him.

He reaches the stream not long after he heard it and crouches down next to it to fill up the bottle. Surely this water must be drinkable. If not – well, he’s made enough mistakes in the past twenty-four hours, so this one could only add to those nicely. Baekhyun sits down carefully against a tree after gulping down the entire contents of the bottle. He waits, he doesn’t even know for how long, but feels the pain ebb away finally.

Another sigh leaves Baekhyun’s lips. He feels so much better now. He even feels like he can do this; like everything is going to be okay. He shakes his head with a smile – _of course_ it’s going to be okay. He isn’t going to die out here, neither are his friends – nor Chanyeol. The short man stretches himself out before he stands up, looks in the direction up-stream and his breath gets stuck in his throat.

Baekhyun sees a tail. A red-gray tail– _wolf-_ gray. The tip is black – and the fact that Baekhyun can see it, because it doesn’t lay curled around the wolf’s body, should have told him that something is off. But Baekhyun knows nothing about these animals, he doesn’t even know that it’s a rather unusual place for a wolf to go sleeping.

He turns around and runs away as fast as he can. He knows he makes too much noise, but what can he do about that now? The only thing he can do, is get back to safety, get back to the cabin and Kyungsoo and Jongdae. They’ll know what to do, right? The more Baekhyun has time to think though, the more he realizes that they won’t know. In fact, it might be dangerous to lead a wolf right to his friends – but there it already is. There’s the cabin and Baekhyun feels too exhausted to turn back around and go somewhere else. He hasn’t eaten anything, after all. It’s about the last thing on his mind though.

He runs up to the door, pushes the handle down, but the door doesn’t open. Did they lock him out? Frowning and with a skyrocketing heartbeat, Baekhyun tries harder, pushes more violently against the door – even if there has been no sign of him being followed.

“Guys!” he yells and is startled by the panic in his own voice. Nevertheless, when he doesn’t get an answer, he doesn’t intend to calm down. He bangs on the door, yells “ _open_ the door!”, but nobody does.

And there they are again, those footsteps. Baekhyun instantly freezes and his eyes widen. What does he do now? That wolf he found – it must have been the werewolf he heard, and now, they’re coming back for him. He feels how his breathing speeds up, but balls his hands into fists.

“No,” he says out loud, though his voice is awfully weak. He means it though, _no_ , he’s not going to let himself get killed now. There’s another door – _surely_ there is another door somewhere. And he’ll find it, of course he will. So he backs away from the door, without turning around because if there’s anything he doesn’t want to see, it’s that horrifying picture of a werewolf. Hairy, big, huge teeth, claws- _no_. Baekhyun runs around the wooden cabin and there it is, around the back, the door they unlocked upon getting here, but didn’t use afterwards.

He slams the door shut behind himself, but knows he has no key. He yells for the guys one more time, but he already knew – they’re not here. But then _where_ are they? Baekhyun can only go into the only room he deems safe enough; the one he slept in for the short time they were all here.

He hears one of the doors open and he knows the intruder is inside the cabin now, too. And how stupid has Baekhyun been? Cornering himself like that? How is this safe? He can’t go anywhere now. _Windows_ , he thinks, and turns around to frantically look at them, but as he’s made his way towards one of them to open it, the door to this room opens as well.

“Ah, there you are,” a voice sounds, deep and smooth – unlike Chanyeol’s, but somehow similar. Baekhyun shivers, knows his life is over now, but doesn’t move otherwise. What if he triggers the werewolf to kill him sooner? “You’re looking for your friends, aren’t you? They’re not here.” As if Baekhyun didn’t notice that, he thinks, his palms sweaty. “I came here in search for you, and your smell was all over the place, but you weren’t here,” the figure continues to tell him in a voice that is both terrifying as well as compelling.

“What did you do to them?” Baekhyun asks, his voice small, but he turns around anyway. If he’s to meet his end here anyway, he will do it as a man. _Finally_ , he thinks – he seems to be scared of _everything_ on this trip. But when he turns and sees what stands before him, he can’t help the frown that etches onto his face. This can’t be a werewolf. “Who are you?! Where are my friends?!” he roars, suddenly not scared anymore – because this is just a man. A _tall_ man, definitely, but a man. No wolf – nothing for Baekhyun to be scared of here. The man raises a brow at him though and then chuckles as one of the corners of his mouth pulls up.

“What a change in character,” he says and steps closer, to which Baekhyun realizes his fear isn’t precisely gone, the short man takes a step back in defense. “Where your friends are, doesn’t particularly matter. Where _you_ should be, does.”

Baekhyun doesn’t have a response and his eyes only grow larger when the man in front of him comes closer and he doesn’t have any space to get back anymore. Baekhyun’s eyes flicker to the man’s plump lips, sees they’re glistening when he opens his mouth slightly. A greedy hand lands on the shirt Baekhyun wears, pulls it to the side at his neck and shoulder. Baekhyun flinches away, but there’s nowhere to go with his back against the wall and he can only look on in horror when the man’s canines start growing until they’re as large as a wolf’s.

Then he screams, as if his life depends on it.

A very evident frown is on the man’s face and he seems to hesitate. Baekhyun’s eyes are large in fear and he wishes he has the strength to push the stranger away, but he doesn’t. Nevertheless, the werewolf doesn’t bite him and looks generally confused as well as distracted for a moment. Then, he slides his previous mask back on – that of a confident, smug young man.

“You know, I was going to take my time with you,” he tells Baekhyun, as if there was someone else before him that he _didn’t_ take his time with, “but–” he halts and turns his face slightly, like he’s listening to something.

Something Baekhyun hears faintly too, he realizes. There can’t be any _more_ , he panics, but dreads the answer to that – he _knows_ there is someone else in the cabin as well. He hears the nails of paws on the wooden floors and as much as Baekhyun is afraid, he sees the stranger is as well. He doesn’t intend to show it, though, and Baekhyun is confused by the many faces this man has. He is _so_ glad that the werewolf’s attention isn’t fully on him anymore though – he might live another day.

When the door opens, the werewolf turns around and Baekhyun tries to use the opportunity to fumble around for the window to open it without being noticed. His breath halts in his throat though when through the door, another wolf appears. But this wolf is not in human form – this one is not at all like the one standing before him. Covered in bite-marks, his fur disheveled, but he looks more fierce than anything Baekhyun has ever seen. The werewolf in front of Baekhyun sighs, strangely enough.

“You delayed me enough for this to happen,” he says, turns back to Baekhyun with a look of annoyance, “now I’ve got to deal with him _again._ Well I guess you could say it’s my own fault,” he mutters when he’s looking back at the wolf who just entered. The wolf who growls lowly, though, a sound that sends shivers through Baekhyun’s body because he doesn’t know whether this one is after him as well.

Baekhyun doesn’t even dare look the wolf in the eyes. He sees how the animal’s ears are flat against his skull and a daring glance at its mouth, tells him he has his lips pulled back, baring teeth. The fear is rising to such an extent that Baekhyun feels how he’s about to faint – he knew he should have eaten something, but there wasn’t any time. He knows he needs to sit down though, before he falls over and hits his head on something that would knock him out for sure.

Slowly, he sinks against the wall, hoping not to attract attention from either of the wolves, but with the advanced hearing of the species, both have their attention on him. When Baekhyun sees the wolf’s eyes, though, his eyes widen once again. Not out of fear, but confusion, because _what_ is this feeling? The same thing he feels when Chanyeol is getting passionate about something; it makes him uncomfortable and nervous, even more than he already is. Because it’s much – _way_ too much – to take in, he lets his head rest between his knees. Once again, he can only hear what’s going on and he soon realizes that these two are the ones that fought outside of his tent as well. Memories of that make one thought prominent in his mind, though he never thought he’d have the courage to say it out loud.

“Please don’t fight again,” he says, effectively breaking the intense glare the two wolves shared, though he doesn’t see it. Baekhyun tries to focus on breathing, hoping he didn’t only make matters worse, and tells himself that being calm is what’s going to help him through this. He _hopes_. When he feels the dizziness fade slightly, he takes a chance and looks up. Both werewolves, in their differing forms, look at Baekhyun and he feels _really_ weird. As if the danger temporarily faded and he’s not actually about to be killed any longer.

“You just _had_ to say it like that. Next thing you tell me _don’t bite me, please_ ,” the man closest to him says, raking a hand through his thick strands of black hair in apparent exasperation. “But I’ll keep my dignity, I’m not letting you say it.”

“What do you mean?” Baekhyun dares to ask and he immediately wishes he didn’t, because he has no idea what the guy is capable of. Yet, he can’t pretend he’s not confused, or curious. The man shakes his head though, with a smirk Baekhyun can’t quite place. Then, the stranger looks at the wolf who stands near the door, who still seems particularly not pleased with his presence, and walks straight passed him.

“I can’t believe you came all the way out here without knowing the basics. That makes you even more vulnerable than you already are. I’ll come back for you,” he says as a way of ending the conversation.

 

Baekhyun is left with his heart pounding against his ribcage. He knows he was about to be bitten just now. The wolf who’s still in his room might still do the same, Baekhyun doesn’t even dare to move because of it. But something about the wolf has felt strange since the moment they met eyes earlier – _familiar_ , but Baekhyun doesn’t know if what he felt, is even real.

His mind drifts to possibly more important things, though – how is he going to find his friends? Besides that, the werewolf said he doesn’t know the basics, shouldn’t he be doing something about that already? But Baekhyun and his friends already noticed before that the internet connection right here sucks terribly and he doesn’t know of any other way to get information. And he doesn’t _want_ information, he wants his friends.

Baekhyun rests his head on his arms and looks at the wolf, the creature warily looking back at him as well. Although he can by no means be sure of it, Baekhyun feels this one doesn’t mean him harm. He has saved him from getting bitten just now, right?

“What do I do,” he asks himself in a low voice, but the wolf still seems startled as he perks his head up. “Sorry.” Of course Baekhyun isn’t sure whether he should be apologizing to a wolf, but what else can he do? But then, Baekhyun’s temporary worst case scenario happens – the wolf leaves and Baekhyun scrambles to his feet as quickly as he can. “No! Please don’t leave!” he says, voice cracking and he frowns at himself for it. But the animal stops in his tracks to look at him anyway, then he still leaves through the door of Baekhyun’s room.

Panic rises to his head, but he runs out of the room, stumbling because of his dizziness, looks through the hall to see if the wolf has gone outside, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. Rather, when Baekhyun turns to the other side, he sees the wolf is right there, in the living room of the small, wooden cabin. Relief washes over him, but as he follows the animal, he isn’t so sure why that is. His belief that the wolf means no harm is based on practically nothing and he has been so stupid the past few days, it wouldn’t be unthinkable that he might get himself killed right here. He told himself before though, staying calm is the key.

The wolf claws at a bookcase and Baekhyun freezes in horror despite his earlier thought. Who is going to pay for things if they get broken once they’re about to go home? He heaves a long sigh, no use thinking of that now and Baekhyun knows it. He has to know why the animal is behaving in such a weird way first, but getting close to it is the last thing he wants. Yet, he just pleaded for it not to go – he does definitely not want to be alone and he should really just have faith in his own judgement already.

A book falls to the ground. The cover shows an edited picture, one half of a wolf’s face and one of a woman’s. The title says ‘Werewolves, a guide’. It makes no sense at all that the wolf knows where to find this, knows to hand it to Baekhyun and the shivers crawl up the man’s spine. He doesn’t know what to do or say, but when he meets eyes with the animal again, there’s something calming in the way he looks at Baekhyun. As if it’s telling him it’s alright, that he shouldn’t worry.

“Thank you,” Baekhyun only says and shuffles closer, shy, strangely. Thankfully, the wolf is sensitive to his emotional state and backs off for the man to read the book. Baekhyun sits in front of the bookcase, hoping with all his heart that nobody will come in and scare the shit out of him again.

 

Baekhyun learns the werewolf that came for him is a beta. Strangely enough, according to this guide, Baekhyun is regarded an omega by this werewolf – while he _isn’t_ , he’s not even a wolf. He doesn’t know why the man told him what he did, though, because with this knowledge, Baekhyun doesn’t have to fear him anymore. He merely has to ask to be left alone – a beta can’t reject a plea from an omega. Or maybe he reacted like a beta as a way of deceiving him?

But then, his earlier thought comes back to mind and it has Baekhyun on his toes. How did this wolf right here know where to find this book? He must have been here before – and he _does_ come off as familiar, but Baekhyun can’t be sure. Chanyeol, he thinks hesitantly, but it wouldn’t make sense – he wouldn’t have been bitten, right? He shakes his head, any wolf that’s from around these parts might have been inside this cabin at one time or another. There’s no reason to suspect Chanyeol, right? But honestly, that _was_ the feeling he got when they locked eyes earlier.

Baekhyun’s eyes drift upwards slowly, as to not alert the wolf, but when he looks at the animal, he already looks back at him. The look on his face is soft and there’s a moment Baekhyun remembers Chanyeol looked at him in this exact way, but he frowns at the thought. _If_ Chanyeol had been bitten and turned into a monster, he would revert back to his human form to tell him, right?

But then, out of nowhere, the wolf growls and barks at Baekhyun and gets closer to him in a manner the short man finds absolutely horrifying.


	3. Betrayal

The wolf growls and whines, baring his teeth at Baekhyun at a way too short distance, but seems to hold back – he doesn’t hurt the short man. For a moment, Baekhyun lets it be because he shields himself from a possible attack, horror in his mind and reflected in his eyes. When the wolf emits an earsplitting howl, though, Baekhyun dares to lower his arms and look at the animal. Reading the book, he barely touched the surface of all this that is a mystery to him, but he learned that some werewolves can’t handle being turned if it was against their will.

He doesn’t know what he’s doing and he would most certainly call himself mental if he looked back on it later, but Baekhyun can’t help it. He reaches out a hand, shakily, but not without resolve, to touch the wolf’s cheek. The howl quiets in the air and the two share a look that’s both frightening as well as comforting, because they _both_ don’t know how to deal with the situation.

_And_ there is that inexplicable feeling Baekhyun has that this must be Chanyeol while it just _can’t_ rationally be Chanyeol. The eyes look so similar though… but Baekhyun can’t say he has ever seen the tall man scared like the wolf is now. And Baekhyun is determined to find out why.

“I’ll go read some more of that book, don’t worry, we’ll figure it out,” Baekhyun says and is surprised by himself. He’ll just have to pretend this is Chanyeol, because if it is, Baekhyun can do anything – anything for the guy he’s crushed on for way too long. His hand is still on the wolf’s cheek, he realizes as he scratches the fur gently and it feels nice under his fingers. He smiles when he sees the wolf seems to enjoy it as well, as he closes his eyes and leans in to his touch.

Baekhyun takes a deep breath to try and let go of the tension he felt when he was about to be attacked and sits up straight again. When he positioned himself in such a way that he’s comfortable again, the wolf rests his head on Baekhyun’s lap when he lies down next to him. A shiver passes through the short man’s body, but he can’t say it’s unpleasant.

Baekhyun stumbles upon a chapter called _Impulse bites_. It starts with a narration of how werewolves time their bites well, so that the newly turned will be able to revert back at any time. However, when the timing is off, when humans aren’t bitten during the full moon, the cycle is messed up and the wolf will have no way to choose between their forms. Either the wolf will stay turned until the next full moon, or they might change entirely without their consent. Comfort and stress could be contributing factors, though there hasn’t been done enough research to prove that.

Baekhyun frowns when he looks at the wolf, now seemingly sound asleep on his lap. He caresses the fur on top of his head, in between the ears that have slightly softer fur. Of course it’s just his imagination that the ears are also larger than usual – but he just wants it to be Chanyeol who is by his side right now.

Last night wasn’t a full moon. If this wolf is really bitten only last night, then that could be the reason why it’s not showing itself properly, why Baekhyun can only guess its identity. Why Baekhyun is pushed more and more into believing it’s Chanyeol.

He can rest assured with that, even if he isn’t completely sure. He would like it if Chanyeol could help him get to his friends anyway and in this form, it’s not very likely he would pull pranks on him, right?

 

When finally having forced himself to eat already, Baekhyun heaves a shaky breath when he stands outside, useless wooden stick in his hand to defend himself if necessary. He made up his mind to retrieve his friends, _now_ , and he read about possible living spaces for werewolves in the book. Apparently, they don’t live in dens like actual wolves and Baekhyun chuckled when he realized that was exactly his expectation. Right now, he’s far from chuckling though. What is he getting himself into again? The fact a wolf is standing right beside him, looking up at him because Baekhyun hadn’t exactly announced his plan, doesn’t necessarily make him feel more at ease.

“We’re going to find them,” he announces and the wolf says nothing, obviously, but the expression on his face is equally void of meaning. For a moment, Baekhyun is quiet as well, but with a strange hope he has of this possibly being an alpha, he dares to let the next words roll of his lips. “I hoped you might show me the way,” he says, relying entirely on the heightened senses of a wolf, being able to sniff them out or something. And if he were to be an alpha, he’d more than gladly take the lead for Baekhyun.

 

And well, Chanyeol – the wolf, damn it – leads them, but occasionally whines out of possible frustration when he doesn’t end up where he wants to. Baekhyun doesn’t get frustrated, he’s all the happier the moment gets put off that he will have to face another werewolf. One who’s capable of turning whenever he so wants, one who is fully in control of himself. Or so Baekhyun thinks, anyway.

The two of them return to the cabin when the sky shows signs of the day drawing to an end. There’s no way to lock the doors and Baekhyun is still entirely not at ease, but with the wolf beside him, at least he has _something_. The wooden stick he brought into the woods with him, lies somewhere forgotten after they’d taken a break. Not that the wolf looked like he needed one, but Baekhyun did.

“Well then,” Baekhyun says, hearing his voice waver slightly and the wolf looks at him curiously. “You need food, right?” he asks and hears no answer, the wolf eagerly tilts his head though and a smile plays on Baekhyun’s lips. “Well we brought meat and I’m sure nobody minds if I give it to you,” he says and as he’s talking, admittedly a little nervously, he has a hard time not to call the wolf Chanyeol. He rummages through the kitchen cupboards to find a plate before opening the fridge and taking out one entire pack of (expensive) meat, to give it to Chanyeol. The _wolf_ , Baekhyun reprimands himself again as he feels his ears heat up.

Baekhyun eats in silence, but the werewolf not so much. He eats as if he’s not quite used to this, paws angrily clawing at the plate, making noise and covering the floor in the meat’s juices. Baekhyun doesn’t even think it’s gross, all that comes to mind is that it’s cute. Chanyeol is cute – even if it’s his temporary pet werewolf whose name might not be Chanyeol.

Baekhyun doesn’t even stop his thoughts any longer. If he’s to get through this, he can’t do so while being afraid of the animal, on top of being confused and scared at the thought that his friends are probably not okay. They’ll rescue them, whatever is happening, and they’ll all go home together, hopefully forgetting about the drama that unfolded here.

When he looks at the animal again, he’s surprised to see it looks back at him. Baekhyun can’t read his expression, but just in case, he smiles, as if to say it will be alright. However, with the time to go to sleep drawing near, Baekhyun isn’t all that sure it _will_ be alright. Because anyone can come inside the cabin, because he doesn’t have keys to lock it. And _damn it_ , why doesn’t he? He didn’t think they’d _all_ need a key, they weren’t going to be separated for longer than one night. Last night, nothing was even supposed to happen…

 

So when Baekhyun finally lies down in his bed, Chanyeol the wolf being right beside him on the floor, he doesn’t feel right at all. He doesn’t know whether someone will come in and terrorize him, he doesn’t know if someone is going to take the wolf away, he doesn’t know whether his friends are still safe…

“Chanyeol,” he calls, looking at the wolf, but realizes it too late – although the animal perks its head up as if he had been called indeed. “I– I mean, _wolf_ ,” Baekhyun stumbles, feeling his face heat up, especially because the wolf looks at him as if he’s amused, head tilting to the side again. “Obviously you’re not Chanyeol,” he adds, but it doesn’t sit well with him. “Well unless you are, of course, but god, I don’t know anymore. Could you _please_ come lie next to me? I’m scared,” he mumbles, but he needs to get his request out into the world. He doesn’t quite know if the animal complies because he _has_ to, because he ignored his earlier plea of staying with him, but right now, Baekhyun can’t say he cares.

The wolf carefully, though gracefully jumps right next to Baekhyun, filling up the small space of the single bed until they lie snugly next to each other. The only thing separating them, is the comforter. Baekhyun finds he trusts the wolf – maybe too much – and is able to fall asleep, even with one of the doors being unlocked and a certain werewolf knowing just which door that is.

 

Baekhyun wakes up to the feeling of being restricted in his movements. For a second, he scares himself a heart-attack because this might be the doing of … of who? What did he just dream? He frowns because he doesn’t remember. When he feels he can do so, he opens his eyes groggily and is startled the second he does so.

Chanyeol faces him, soundly asleep and hair disheveled. Baekhyun feels a blush creep up his cheeks because the restricted feeling comes from a protective arm slung around him. Looking at Chanyeol more intently, he notices his shoulder is scarred and from the looks of it, that’s not the only place he got injured. His face looks so peaceful though, lips slightly parted and slow breaths pass through them. The arm lying on top of Baekhyun’s upper body is heavy and the small man has never quite had this opportunity to look at the well-developed muscles, now covered in bite-marks. His eyes travel further down the body that lies on top of his comforter and – he should have known – Chanyeol appears to be naked.

“Oh _god_ ,” he whispers, but to it, Chanyeol jolts awake and they look at each other wide-eyed.

Not only shock, but fear etches itself on Chanyeol’s face and when he mutters _no_ several times, his appearance starts to change. It happens so quickly, however, that Chanyeol doesn’t seem to have time to retract his arm and a mere second later, Baekhyun feels the skin on his shoulder rip painfully. He releases a strangled cry, but tries to hold it in because it seems the wolf is having a much harder time. But at the sound of Baekhyun’s pained voice, the animal stills and looks at him, eyes drifting to his shoulder.

“It’s – it’s alright,” Baekhyun tells him, but stutters, because really, it isn’t. And Chanyeol doesn’t believe so either as he nuzzles Baekhyun’s chin out of the way with a nose that’s too big. Instantly, the small man flinches, not at all sure what to expect – but certainly not a tongue carefully lapping at the exposed, bleeding skin. A shiver runs through him and at this point, Baekhyun isn’t sure whether that’s because of fear – he might still get bitten, after all – or because it’s _Chanyeol_ licking his shoulder. For a moment, he’s so struck he doesn’t know what to do, but he makes his mind up soon. “Chanyeol,” he says, but the wolf doesn’t stop and another shiver makes its way down Baekhyun’s spine, so he forces himself to hold the werewolf’s face instead, even though it causes his shoulder to sting again. “Chanyeol, it’s alright, it’s not your fault,” he repeats, making sure to look in the eyes of the animal before him and just the realization that this _is_ the same Chanyeol as the one he likes, heats up his face.

The wolf whines, as if he doesn’t agree with that, but quiets down and looks hopeful at Baekhyun, as if he’ll know what to do now. He doesn’t, he only knows he can’t go back to sleep like this. Besides, he has no idea of what time it is and he feels like he’s been in bed for far too long already. Not that he would mind spending – halt those thoughts. Chanyeol is a _werewolf_. And yet, he finds that image very appealing, the one he had right before the tall man jolted awake to turn back into an animal; the sight of him so close, sleeping peacefully. He hopes to do away with the thoughts with an awkward cough to clear his throat.

“I want to go look for them again,” Baekhyun announces when he pushes himself up off the bed, but flinches when his shoulder aches. As he does so, and his fingers carefully feel the damaged skin, he slowly turns back around to Chanyeol, a very important thought on his mind. “You came looking for me, that’s why you got bitten,” he declares and as a response, the wolf crawls closer to him, nuzzling his hand – and Baekhyun doesn’t know what he wishes to say. “Come,” he therefore only says and although Chanyeol fits being an alpha much more than Baekhyun does, the wolf listens to him and they both get off the small, but cozy bed.

 

When Baekhyun is all freshened up, they’re back outside and this time, Baekhyun is determined to find his friends. Even if it means meeting up with werewolves he doesn’t like. Even if it means fighting them, he realizes – because he values their lives above his own.

“Maybe it will go a little better this time,” Baekhyun tells Chanyeol, although the wolf doesn’t seem to be too willing to try again, “because you’ve been a werewolf for a little longer,” he adds and the perked up ears are enough of a sign to him.

He doesn’t need to say anything more and Chanyeol prepares himself to follow a trail, into a different area than where they had gone yesterday. Baekhyun begins to believe that the werewolf who took his friends away, led them astray by creating a fake trail – and because Chanyeol isn’t so much used to being his new self yet, he couldn’t have figured it out.

Chanyeol is fast, way too fast. As a human, he already had the advantage with his long legs, but now, he disappears even faster. He comes back for Baekhyun every time, though, and there is no reason to think that is strange, but the short man feels himself smile every time it happens.

However, that smile is washed off his face the second he hears something from one of the nearby bushes. He squints, but sees little and looks over at Chanyeol for confirmation, but the wolf stands relaxed, anticipating, but without any sign of discomfort. Baekhyun is confused and feels conflicted because if Chanyeol isn’t afraid— it’s Jongdae.

Baekhyun lunges forward and supports his friend as soon as he notices the shape the other is in. _Bad_. The man shivers under Baekhyun’s inquisitive eyes, but as soon as he lays eyes on Chanyeol, he holds his breath. Baekhyun doesn’t catch on right away, as he’s in the middle of looking for injuries and he finds that Jongdae is covered in cuts, possibly from tree branches he ran into on the way here, but otherwise isn’t seriously hurt, physically.

“Are you alright?” he asks anyway and Jongdae seems to snap out of it, somewhat.

“There’s – there’s one behind you,” he says in the smallest, most broken voice Baekhyun has ever heard and he sees the other man is on the brink of tears.

“That’s Chanyeol,” he says dismissively and misses entirely the horror that’s on his friend’s face. “What happened to you – where’s Kyungsoo? Is he alright? Are _you_?” Jongdae doesn’t appear to have heard anything of what Baekhyun has been saying and looks at him in shock, then at the animal slowly approaching them.

“Chanyeol?” he asks, clearly not believing in this bullshit. “Are you out of your mind?” Baekhyun frowns at him, but before he said he’s not, Jongdae’s eyes drift downward slightly. “What happened – did he get you too?” There’s so much fear in his voice that Baekhyun almost grows scared from it himself.

“No, Chanyeol accidentally scratched me. Now answer me for a second – _where_ is Kyungsoo?” Jongdae doesn’t answer – not yet.

“What madness drives you to think that’s Chanyeol?!” He takes a few breaths when Baekhyun doesn’t care to answer that. “Soo is still there, with that creep, I couldn’t – I could only–” _What_ did he just say?

“You _left_ him there? Wherever that may be? How can you–” It’s only now that Baekhyun notices that this is the first serious argument the two have ever gotten into. Over Kyungsoo, no less. And Chanyeol is incapable of telling anyone to back off and he nervously paces back and forth, panting restlessly.

“What would you have done?!” Jongdae shrieks and Baekhyun flinches at the tone of his voice as well as the tears streaming down his face in desperation. “We got kidnapped by a _werewolf_ , if you didn’t notice yet!”

“Don’t you think I was targeted too? Jesus Jongdae get yourself together!” Baekhyun yells, equally heated up and he begins to realize they’re like this because Kyungsoo is that important, and the impact this whole event on them has, is huge. It’s why he turns around and breathes deeply a few times. He’s absolutely _not_ forgiving Jongdae’s cowardly ass though. When Baekhyun turns back around, all panic is gone from his face, he sees Jongdae notices it too and it affects him. “What I would do, is what I’m doing right now. I was on my way to get you back – _both_ of you. So I’m going to continue that, whether you decide you’ll give up on our friend or not.”

 

Of course Jongdae couldn’t return to the cabin alone. That’s why he silently follows Baekhyun, for the first time feeling as if the other short man actually _has_ something on him. Other than that, he doesn’t trust the wolf, can’t believe it’s Chanyeol and will not listen to Baekhyun when he tells him to trust _him_ then, if he can’t trust the animal.

And to be really honest, Baekhyun isn’t sure at first where all this courage came from. It’s definitely not because he’s not scared anymore – he knows there’s a good chance he’ll get hurt. Maybe it’s like he thought before, the idea that his friends mean more to himself than even his own life does – and that he’s getting strength from that.

He chuckles when he realizes that pretty much sounds like he cares for his friends like wolves care about their packs. It’s also the moment in which he turns to Jongdae and startles the other, but a smile is on Baekhyun’s face still.

“I’m sorry,” he says and though nobody asked for it, he hugs his friend and Jongdae breaks down in his arms. Sobbing that he is sorry too and many words Baekhyun can’t make sense of, but he gets the gist. It’s time they got Kyungsoo back and reunite their pack. The only one left out right now, is Chanyeol though and Baekhyun makes eye contact with him, sends him a smile and hopes for the best. Facial expressions are difficult to read off wolves, but the wag of his tail should tell him enough.

 

Not long after, they finally reach the spot – a small arrangement of houses. Baekhyun gets a terribly eerie feeling and he knows this is where the werewolf is at that tried to bite him only the night prior. He’d come back for him too, he promised and that alone is enough to send a shiver through his body because he’s foolish enough to come close to the den himself.

“Ah,” a smooth, deep voice then sounds and all three are quickly on their toes. “I see you even brought back my hostage – saving me some trouble there. I hope you read a little bit about what’s going to happen – your cute little friend is less than safe,” the stranger says, pointing to the house behind him as soon as he comes into view. “Oh I see you still got trouble changing, my bad. Not that I’m sorry – I’m not really.” Chanyeol growls and the sound sends chills down Baekhyun’s spine now that he knows exactly who this is. Jongdae hides behind Baekhyun though, his fingers on the shoulders of the man in front of him and Baekhyun hisses when they touch his wound, attracting the attention of the stranger. “Oh? Did he already bite you?” Baekhyun hears Jongdae mutter a _sorry_ in his ear, but it doesn’t matter. It hardly bothers him with the situation they’re in.

“Where’s Kyungsoo?” he demands and the werewolf amusedly raises an eyebrow.

“That’s his name? He wouldn’t tell me no matter how much I pressed – he’s right there, sweetheart, but you’re hardly in a position to be demanding things of me, don’t you think?” He smirks and the next second, he’s right behind Baekhyun. But instead of going for him, he turns to Jongdae.


	4. A wolf without a pack

Baekhyun doesn’t even have time to close his eyes in horror because the werewolf is pinned to the ground the moment he threatened to hurt Jongdae. Chanyeol stands over him, growling, and to Baekhyun, it seems like the animal is ready to rip his head off. To his honest confusion, the werewolf chuckles – but not before the genuine fear flashed over his face. Baekhyun doesn’t even know why he’s able to pick up on the subtle facial expressions.

“I really picked the wrong guy to turn first, didn’t I?” he asks and with the wolf standing over him being equally confused as Baekhyun is, he’s able to push him off himself. “Should have started with _you_ , probably,” he says with a nod in Baekhyun’s direction, but contradicting his words, his fingers dauntingly hover over Jongdae’s shoulder. “Why did you escape?” he asks with his lips way too close to Jongdae’s ear and when the short man is too afraid to say anything, he adds, “hm?” Baekhyun frowns, because – was that _supposed_ to sound sexual?

“Back off,” he therefore says and when he has the werewolf’s attention, he bitterly adds “ _please_.” The stranger raises both his hands and his brows, in an amused sort of way, but Chanyeol growls lowly. “Stop threatening him,” Baekhyun says, but he feels how fear rises in his throat because he has precisely no control over what could be happening. He gets the feeling more and more that the stranger was lying; that he doesn’t consider Baekhyun to be much of an omega – and that he only said it in the first place to confuse him.

“I see you’re starting to figure it out,” the werewolf says, smirking as his fingernails start to grow dangerously, letting them graze the skin on Jongdae’s shoulder. “Though I have to admit that I really did think you’d be an omega. But opinions can change, right? Your pleas won’t do too much anymore, little darling.” Panic. Nothing more than panic. What does he do now?

“No, please, _please_ don’t hurt Jongdae,” Baekhyun finds himself pleading anyway and he knows he’s on the verge of crying but _someone_ needs to stay strong. Chanyeol stands by the sidelines and Baekhyun has the feeling he doesn’t charge because he might hurt Jongdae instead of the stranger – and it just adds to his panicked mind. “Don’t hurt my friends,” Baekhyun adds in a whisper and it’s right then that the stranger turns to him instead.

“Do you think turning them is _hurting_ them?” he asks and Baekhyun has to swallow away his fears because the man stands so close, predatory mode still on.

“I heard Chanyeol. He was covered in blood,” he says, looking at the wolf, who looks only slightly better now.

“But you easily accepted him – and look at him now, way better than before, right? He’s strong, fast, capable of protecting you,” the stranger tells him and there’s a smug, knowing smile on his face. There’s only one thing that comes to Baekhyun’s mind, though it’s far from the truth.

“I don’t need protection.” The way his voice sounds small and quiet, gives that away instantly and the stranger laughs.

“Of course you don’t. You know what, I’ll give you my name, so you know who you’re actually fearing all this time,” he says and leans close – _way_ too close – to whisper in Baekhyun’s ear. “Kim Jongin, it’s very nice to meet you,” he says and Chanyeol growls, before he wrings himself in between the two men, pushing this so-called Jongin further away from Baekhyun with a snarl. The man laughs, though with Baekhyun so on edge, he saw it again, that flicker of fear and he starts to realize something. “I’d like to make all of you part of my pack,” he then suddenly confesses.

“You’re going about it the wrong way, asshole,” Baekhyun suddenly hears – it’s Chanyeol’s deep, rumbling voice and he’s _angry_. He turned probably because of that and Baekhyun doesn’t know how he missed it, it happened so quickly. “Get the fuck away from Baekhyun or I’ll kill you,” he growls, not at all bothered by the fact he’s stark naked – and nobody seems to mind. Except Baekhyun. He doesn’t want to see Chanyeol out here like this, trying to take his defense while being scrutinized by someone as lowly as Jongin, who apparently wants them to… to be a _pack_? “Where _is_ your pack, huh?” the tall man continues when Jongin has slightly stepped away from them all, though he could still easily lash out and… and _kill_ him. “Did they leave because you’re such a dick?” he spits and Baekhyun can honestly say he has never quite heard him speak like this. It’s only when Jongin turns his head the other way slightly, though, that Baekhyun realizes Jongdae’s mental breakdown.

“Chanyeol calm down, please…” Baekhyun says when he gets to his knees, holding up Jongdae who seems on the verge of fainting on the spot. He hadn’t believed this was Chanyeol up until that point after all.

“Don’t use that ugly word on me Baek,” Chanyeol retorts and his voice sounds so rough, so coarse – Baekhyun flinches. “Bring me to Kyungsoo,” he continues to the man in front of them, who has strangely let Baekhyun do as he pleased when he wanted to be there for Jongdae. The short man does nothing other than just stare ahead while Baekhyun holds him, contemplating what to do with the situation, all the while hoping nothing bad has already happened to Kyungsoo.

“I’ve got a much better idea,” the werewolf answers and his pose is defiant, confident, but Baekhyun starts to realize he knows better. Jongin is outnumbered even though Chanyeol is the only werewolf on their side, and the subtle signs of his fear towards Baekhyun’s tall friend show that he knows it, too. Also, Chanyeol seems most like an alpha, while Jongin can only be a beta at best – and that’s not particularly a favorable position for him to be in. Yet, because he’s been a werewolf for much longer – possibly his entire life – he is in much better control of his body and his strength. That’s why he can keep cool while continuing, even though Chanyeol's human form is nothing less daunting than the wolf he just showed to be. “Tomorrow is the next full moon, as I guess you’re well aware of. By then, I want you to have made a decision – either Kyungsoo gets turned, or you give up the little cutie here, I believe you called him… _Baek_ , just now?”

There’s that smug smile again and Chanyeol charges, enraged, but as he does so, his body seems to protest heavily. He screams and falls to the ground, writhes and Jongdae cowers in Baekhyun’s arms, while Baekhyun can only look on in horror, wants to hold Chanyeol’s body instead, but is incapable of doing anything at all. Chanyeol bares his teeth and he turns, but is completely out of control, whining, writhing and clawing at the ground. Baekhyun can’t hold back the tears as he looks up to Jongin, who raises a confirming brow at him before he disappears inside the house they stand before.

“Baek don’t worry about me,” Jongdae says, voice squeaky and high, the fear easily audible, but he won’t give in to it, it seems. “I think… I think Chanyeol needs your support,” he tells Baekhyun and he realizes right there that Jongdae has seen through it as well. That feeling telling them that Chanyeol is protective over Baekhyun, more so than over anyone else.

“Sure?” Baekhyun doesn’t need to say more, Jongdae nods although it’s easy to see he’s not alright either. Baekhyun bites his lip when he makes his decision and crawls over to Chanyeol, the writhing wolf that seems to have lost all control he previously had over his wolf-body. “Chanyeol,” Baekhyun says, his voice low, and it goes unheard. The small man frowns, but doesn’t give up there. He repeats his name, reaching out his hand and at first, Chanyeol bites him, but when Baekhyun winces, the jaws are already unclenched and no blood is drawn from his hand. He wants to tell Chanyeol to calm down, but he doesn’t have to; when they meet eyes, the wolf stops his erratic movements and just focuses on Baekhyun’s eyes.

If Baekhyun is completely honest, he feels chills throughout his entire body when they look at each other like that. He _knows_ that they haven’t really talked all that much, but there’s a connection there and he’s sure of it. He knows that not only does he like Chanyeol, Chanyeol also cares about _him_. When he takes the wolf’s face in his hands and Chanyeol easily leans in to the touch, Baekhyun knows what he has to say to draw the unease from the werewolf.

“I’m not going to let myself get hurt by him, in whatever way.” The words are spoken confidently, but Baekhyun isn’t, not really. He doesn’t stand a chance against Jongin, but he would try with all that’s inside him to not let his words turn into a lie. Chanyeol nuzzles his cheek, then his neck and he laps at his shoulder again, igniting sparks in Baekhyun that he doesn’t want to feel right now – not out in the open and in front of Jongdae. What must he _think_? He can’t help it, though, the quiet shaky breath he breathes at the feeling of the wolf’s tongue, knowing it’s Chanyeol and knowing the man is doing it fully consciously. Their eyes meet again and Baekhyun knows he heard it perfectly well. “We should head back to the cabin,” he announces after clearing his throat.

 

Chanyeol sits snuggled up against Baekhyun’s side and the small man’s arm is draped over the fluffy, large body. Jongdae sits on the other couch, unsure of what to say, but visibly feeling better than when they were outside in the forest. He still had his key on him and all the doors are again locked, helping them feel at least a little safer.

“So we only have tomorrow to free Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun states and Jongdae nods.

“I’ll be less useless,” he vows and Baekhyun feels his heart break, but the man isn’t quite finished yet. “I’m sorry, Baek. I left him there and I shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t have let fear take over my actions. Even if you forgive me, I never will.” He pauses there and Baekhyun doesn’t know what to say, his brow furrowed in contemplation. “I’ll go to bed now, I’ve had it, really. I’ll see you in the morning – be safe, okay? Don’t go anywhere,” he adds and Baekhyun finds his voice again.

“Of course we’re not going anywhere. You’ll be the first to hear it if something happens,” he says and when his friend stands up and gives him a smile, he can see some of his usual easygoing character is returning already with his resolve to do better tomorrow.

When they wished each other good night, Baekhyun doesn’t feel like standing up and going to his own bedroom. He looks at Chanyeol only, being exhausted with his head resting in Baekhyun’s lap. He feels so bad for the tall man, wishes it was him who got bitten instead, but he knows that when things have happened, there’s no turning them back around.

With a little chill, he yawns and snuggles closer to the wolf who sleepily accepts his embrace and it’s when they’ve practically molded together, that Baekhyun feels him stir. He doesn’t think much of it and closes his eyes to try and sleep for a little bit, but he can’t just do that when he realizes Chanyeol is changing again. So when he opens his eyes, he looks in Chanyeol’s round, human ones, looking at him with an expression that is both familiar, but also something he hasn’t seen in his human form – not with this intensity.

Baekhyun lets himself be kissed, threading his fingers through Chanyeol’s short hair when the tall man embraces him tightly, afraid to lose him soon.

\--

Kyungsoo is left alone in his room – but he prefers to think of it like a prison-cell instead. His heart still races from his previous encounter with the werewolf, the tall man trying to make advances on him, yet never actually _doing_ anything. Kyungsoo hasn’t given so much as his own name – unable to trust him as he doesn’t know what power the werewolf already holds over him. He learned his name is Jongin, but refuses to call him that. Rather, he refuses to talk to him at all.

Since Jongdae and him were kidnapped at the same time, he knows his friend is here, too, but he hasn’t seen him even once. He heard him cry several times though and Kyungsoo can only clench his hand over his heart every time it happened. It seems to have stopped now, though, and he doesn’t know why. Jongin doesn’t tell him much, only that he’ll be ritually bitten during the full moon – tomorrow.

He approaches the window when he hears people talk – Baekhyun. His heart skips a beat, though he can _almost_ hear what is being said. It’s annoying him more than anything, but they’ll come for him – but that’s not even the first thought on his mind. What’s most important to Kyungsoo, is that he hears his friend, that he is _alive_.

After a while, he hears Chanyeol’s voice, but since it’s so deep, the only thing Kyungsoo hears, is the anger of his tall friend. It easily sends a chill down his spine, but he can’t leave the window, even though he can’t see anything because everyone is on the other side of the house and Kyungsoo is stuck looking at the forest stretching out at the backside.

The talk doesn’t last very long and Kyungsoo stiffens up when he hears a struggle going on shortly, before he hears the door of the house open. His heart beats in his throat because it’s not difficult to imagine what Jongin can do to him if he just so wishes. But the tall man doesn’t come for him, at least not right away and it only leaves Kyungsoo to be all the more fidgety.

He wants to focus on the voices he still faintly hears outside, but he doesn’t get the chance to do so. As happened a few times before, Kyungsoo hears stifled sobs and he bites his lip. He hates Jongin and everything the man has done, but each time he hears the cries, his heart breaks – and maybe he hates _that_ even more. He hates it when he hears Jongin sob names in his sleep – to then wake up and treat Kyungsoo as a prisoner as if he doesn’t so much as have a heart. He hates it when Jongin goes out in search of his friends, seeking to hurt them – and Kyungsoo never even gets to see Jongdae, while they’re _so_ close to each other. He hopes his friend has gotten away, at least.

When the voices outside have long died down and Kyungsoo is sure his friends have left again – leaving him behind and he doesn’t understand _why_ – the door to his prison-cell opens. The werewolf standing in the door opening has cleaned himself up, washed his face and a smirk graces his plump lips, but Kyungsoo isn’t blind. The rims of his eyes are still red and his eyelids are swollen. Kyungsoo isn’t sure which act to buy at this point.

“Well then, Kyungsoo,” Jongin starts and all the short man’s previous thoughts are gone.

“ _What_?” he asks, realizes he _seethes_ and it’s the first thing he says to the werewolf who has been talking to him since the moment he’s here. He shouldn’t _know_ his name. For a split second, that smirk is wiped off Jongin’s face, but before Kyungsoo can fully realize it, it’s back on his face again.

“Your friends don’t hate me as much as you do,” is the only thing Jongin says about it before he continues to the conversation he had in mind. “Your buddy, he’s gone with the others,” he says without so much as a trace of emotion. Kyungsoo doesn’t know what to say – he _hoped_ Jongdae would be able to get out of here but now that he is gone, he feels a little hollow. “Well,” Jongin ponders leisurely, “maybe _he_ hates me as much as you do, but that hardly matters. So Kyungsoo, we need to make some preparations for tomorrow, you do understand that, right?” And Kyungsoo slips up.

“Fuck off,” he says, though he intended to stay quiet. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone who treats him this way and yet, he’s overstepped that line twice already in the past few minutes. There’s something he notices though – it’s hard not to see, because Jongin wears an obvious mask, a mask that crumbles as easily as he pulls it up. The werewolf is affected by his voice and though he isn’t quite sure why, he _hates_ it. At this very moment, there’s little Kyungsoo doesn’t hate. Jongin slips back in his role before speaking up.

“I demand you come with me, I need to show you the area.” In that moment, Kyungsoo decides to drop his own act. He can’t continue not saying anything, even though he never agrees with anything. Maybe this man just needs to learn his place.

“One simple word- _no_ ,” he says and Jongin raises a brow at him, fake smile still on his face, but the shiver didn’t go unnoticed by the short man standing before him. Does this mean Kyungsoo is the one who holds the most power here? It confuses him, not in the last place because Jongin is tall – a tall _werewolf_ – but he doesn’t think he can rule the possibility out.

“Oh? You’d rather I bite you right here, right now?” Jongin asks him and it sounds teasing, but _so_ desperate. And the pieces of the puzzle are already slowly falling into place in Kyungsoo’s mind, but he doesn’t want to let the werewolf know he knows _exactly_ what’s going on.

That’s why he passively lets it happen when the man bends down, standing still as if he’s frozen with fear, just like the previous times this happened. Kyungsoo can’t suppress the shiver he still feels when luscious lips rest at the base of his neck, teeth teasing the skin as if he’s about to bite – but Kyungsoo knows he won’t.

Then Kyungsoo decides it’s enough. It’s enough with everything this kid has been doing to him and his friends. So he holds his hands up against the sturdy chest and he feels the werewolf flinch against his skin. Apparently, the sudden action caused Jongin’s canines to grow and he pulls away quickly, seemingly startled and Kyungsoo frowns. He’s not the one who initiates this sick skinship every time.

“Stop what you’re doing,” Kyungsoo says, his voice level and serious and he sees the effect it has on the man in front of him. “I know stuff is up and I would much prefer if you’d talk about it like a dignified… _creature_. Don’t go around doing this kind of thing to me – or my friends, just to fill that hole in your heart,” he says and he knows he sounds harsh. At this point, he doesn’t care. He doesn’t even want to care that the werewolf breaks down in sobs right before his eyes, so he looks away and bites his lip.

Not long after, Jongin leaves without a word and Kyungsoo is back by himself. Of course he cares – he cared about this man’s cries from the moment he first heard them, but he won’t give in. He meant what he said, after all; there’s no need to go around hunting for a new pack like that when you’re blessed with the ability to turn into someone who can _talk_.

Another while later, Kyungsoo’s door is opened and a red-eyed Jongin shoves a plate of decent looking food inside before he retreats again. Kyungsoo pretends his heart didn’t just break yet another time. He isn’t heartless, even for someone who has taken him away from his friends, hurt one of them to the point of endless crying, he can’t ignore Jongin’s pain.

When the dark falls, Kyungsoo starts feeling uneasy. He knows there’s a fairly large chance he _will_ get bitten some time tomorrow as he doesn’t have the physical strength to fight Jongin off. He knows he can do much to stop or delay him, but if the werewolf merely _wants_ to ignore his tries, he will go for it and turn Kyungsoo either way.

That’s only one of the reasons why he can’t sleep. Another is the sound of Jongin’s crying. Though the pain in the werewolf’s chest is unknown to him, it’s almost as if he can feel it right now. And there he hears it again, that plea for _Kris-hyung_ to come back, to not leave him behind alone. Kyungsoo doesn’t know whether this person has left him, or has been killed. He wants to say he doesn’t care, but it’s not true.

For now, Kyungsoo gets up from his bed and turns to the window. He hasn’t tried to escape from it before because he was held back by the thought Jongin would come after him, but now, he doesn’t want to let that stop him anymore. With a deep breath and his heart pounding against his ribs, Kyungsoo slides open the window as silently as he possibly can. It’s only when he stepped foot outside that he realizes Jongin has taken proper care of him. He hasn’t been denied food or water, he was allowed to bathe as he pleased– but stop, he has to _stop_ those thoughts. Jongin has kept him as a prisoner, for the sole reason of turning him into a monster and having him join his lonely pack. He has his own pack to take care of, he thinks bitterly while squinting his eyes. Baekhyun can’t be without him – he can’t even be alone in the… in the _dark_. Horror strikes him because that’s what he sent him out into when it all started and he didn’t even realize. His drunk ass had been too proud of himself for not losing the games, he had seen Baekhyun drink much, _way_ too much, and he let it happen.

How come he only thinks of this now? How could he have been such a terrible friend? Of course Kyungsoo stumbles because of it, being lost in thought doesn’t help when walking in an unfamiliar area in the dark. At first, it seems alright and he can easily get back up, but the second time, he’s a lot less lucky. What catches him, are not his own two feet, it’s not a tree and it’s not even the ground. It’s the first time Kyungsoo is legitimately scared for his life.

“Where do you think you’re off to, Kyungsoo?”


	5. Mate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry I didn't update yesterday like I said I would, I had a much more busy day than I was expecting and I had no time ;; I'll just update twice now so you'll have the full story ^^

Kyungsoo stands trapped between Jongin’s arms. They don’t hold him gently and there’s no soothing aura coming off the werewolf at all. A shiver runs down his spine because his life might very well end here – at least as he knows it. Kyungsoo holds his breath, but the uneven tone of Jongin’s voice didn’t go unnoticed. Was he still crying right before catching Kyungsoo? Or is the same thing going on that’s been going on for a while now; the fact that Kyungsoo has an effect on the werewolf that Jongin doesn’t want to admit.

“Let me go,” Kyungsoo says, but as he’s legitimately scared this time around, he hears the tremor in his voice as well. Jongin chuckles humorlessly before asking him a tricky question.

“Did I ever mistreat you?” Kyungsoo frowns because the direct answer to that would be _no_ , but that wouldn’t be right at all, so it’s not what he says. However, he can’t just lie either and tell the werewolf _yes_.

“You mistreated my friends,” he therefore says, “and like it or not, I hate you for it,” he finishes, voice sounding much like venom now that he is reminded of that simple fact. For a moment, the arms around him loosen their hold, but when Kyungsoo tries to push the werewolf away from him, he’s unable to do so. For the first time that night, Kyungsoo looks in the eyes of the taller male and sees that he’s hurting. He has to shut his own eyes and bite his lip to stop being affected by it. If only it would work.

“I need a pack,” Jongin confesses and with a frown, Kyungsoo opens his eyes to look at him again.

“ _How_ is this the way to do that?! You scared the living daylights out of Jongdae,” Kyungsoo starts strong, but there’s little more that he _knows_ , “and you’re willing to sacrifice me,” he adds in a softer tone of voice because he doesn’t have anything other on the male. Except for separating him from his friends and obviously trying to claim him.

“The bite won’t kill you and if you let me do it tomorrow, it will only make everything better,” Jongin says, somehow hopeful that with Kyungsoo’s softer voice, he’s suddenly going to cooperate with him. The short man shoots him a glare and snorts because of it.

“ _Everything will be better_?! You know what, I _hate_ that you’re standing here trying to convince me of that! Nothing is better than the life I already _have_ , having fun with my friends, working a normal job and living in a normal house in a normal town!” Did he just snap? Kyungsoo blanks, because he _did_ just snap. None of what he said was fair, knowing that Jongin didn’t _choose_ to be abnormal. Yet, the words _I’m sorry_ can’t roll off his lips because those would be a lie. Kyungsoo isn’t sorry, he won’t be unless… unless Jongin can somehow show him that he’s not terrible. And the small man doesn’t even know how he wants to see that happen. He doesn’t even know why he hopes the werewolf will even _try_.

It’s only then that Kyungsoo realizes that the trembling he feels, is not his own body’s doing. Jongin, still holding him, but not quite as tightly as before, feels _breakable_. He looks up in eyes that are red, reflecting the moon’s light and then notices the wolf’s canines appearing. The next shiver he feels, is very much his own, but it’s in complete contrast to what he felt before – he’s anticipating.

He knows Jongin can smell it, as the werewolf’s lips curl up into a satisfied smirk and he leans down with darkened eyes. Kyungsoo feels the lips against the juncture between his neck and shoulder, feels that the touch is hot, slow and teasing. His own breath catches in his throat and unwillingly, he clamps on to Jongin’s chest. The werewolf growls lowly because of it and the vibrations the sound puts forth, weaken Kyungsoo’s foothold. He’s held up steadily, though.

“I’ve got you,” Jongin assures him, confident and Kyungsoo can’t tell if it’s the mask he puts up or not, simply because he can’t even _think_. The werewolf kisses his neck and constantly, Kyungsoo feels the teeth grazing his skin, as if they’re about to puncture him, but they _don’t_ and he whines – unwillingly, but _willingly_. “I knew I made the right choice of keeping you close,” Jongin mumbles against his skin, fighting against the urge to just bite already. However because he’s holding back, Kyungsoo’s right mind has a way of coming back to him and his hands push against the hard chest – enough to be felt and considered.

“You _have_ to stop,” he breathes, not quite knowing when he ever felt this dependent, yet his will not allowing himself to give in. For the sake of his friends, who are much more important to him than Jongin wants to believe. The werewolf sighs at his words though and pulls back slightly, letting his arms fall back to his sides. He eyes Kyungsoo, sees how the small man’s lips got fuller and moist in anticipation and he swallows because he _wants_ him.

“This is why it has to be you,” he says softly, his hand moving upwards to caress Kyungsoo’s cheek and the small man looks up at him with wide eyes – completely confused. “You’re strong, like Kris-hyung – dependable.” Kyungsoo frowns because that is in contrast with what he just thought about himself, but an explanation for the werewolf’s words could be the fact that he kept holding back – not just himself, but Jongin as well.

 _Then_ he realizes something. The power he felt he held over Jongin is real and the werewolf has realized it too. It opens many doors and all Kyungsoo has to do now, is be straightforward and simply _strong_.

“I give you permission to bite me,” he says, wriggling out of the strong hold Jongin has over him and when he looks up at him, he sees the desire flicker in his eyes. Kyungsoo has to swallow because that look is intense, but he can’t waver now. “But only on two conditions.” He looks up defiantly at Jongin, who smirks, as if he’s emerged victorious, but the roles are precisely opposite.

“I’m listening,” his deep voice rings and Kyungsoo can see he reaches out a hand, but holds back – it’s all the reassurance he needs to know that _he_ is in control and not the werewolf.

“My friends can do whatever they wish – don’t force them into anything,” he says sternly and Jongin nods, seemingly okay with this particular condition, so Kyungsoo continues. “Secondly, you’re not to look down on me. Whichever way I turn out – alpha, beta _or_ omega. If you _do_ , I’ll promise you right now I’ll go rogue and intend not to ever see you again.” Jongin visibly flinches and steps away as his typical wolf-traits vanish slowly. It’s as if the desire previously felt, has dissipated into thin air because of the threat, but he’s not willing to back down so easily.

“Am I allowed a condition of my own?” he asks and Kyungsoo frowns slightly because he didn’t see that coming. Rather, he needs a moment to process the entire situation in which he holds power over a werewolf who possesses much more strength than he does. He nods curtly though and follows Jongin when the tall male turns around and retreats back to the house they came from – the house Kyungsoo wanted to leave behind. “I want you to spend the night with me now.”

 

A little while later, Kyungsoo lies in a bed that oozes with manliness that he has difficulty to ignore. The bed dips when Jongin slips under the covers next to him and he feels nerves rise because he agreed to something potentially dangerous. Did Jongin mean _sleep_ together? Or did he mean _mating_? Or–

His thoughts are cut short when Jongin turns his body so he lies on his side, back facing the werewolf while Jongin invites himself in Kyungsoo’s personal space. The tall male’s front is pressed against his back and Kyungsoo can feel the heartbeat through the fabric of the shirt he wears.

Jongin just snuggles his neck and eventually, breaks down crying. Kyungsoo can do nothing at first, lying paralyzed because this wasn’t what he expected at all, but then he realizes yet another thing. Jongin needs guidance and he already told Kyungsoo that he thinks _he_ is the one to provide that for him.

So he wriggles around in the hold Jongin has on him, though it’s easy because the werewolf isn’t trying to keep him restricted. Kyungsoo finally gives in to that feeling in his chest, that hurt he kept pushing away at the sound of Jongin’s crying. His arm wraps around the larger body and rubs his back soothingly. He ends up saying kind words, not so much disgusted with him anymore and he’s confused, but that’s pushed to the back of his mind.

Jongin ends up telling him that his pack got murdered, that he didn’t have a mate and that this Kris-hyung was his alpha, their leader. He had nobody left to hold on to so he went hunting, his brain going haywire because wolves aren’t meant to be alone. Kyungsoo is more than a little affected, feels more and more how his heart is opening up to the young wolf and dreads having to choose between him and his friends.

 

 --

 

It’s warm when Baekhyun wakes up. He realizes very soon that it’s because of that arm again – this time to keep him from falling off the couch. It’s not _that_ which makes his eyes shoot open, though, it’s the gentle touch of a calloused hand on his cheek. Instantly, his heart beats quickly in his chest, especially with the fond look Chanyeol has on his face when he looks at him.

“Hey,” he says and Baekhyun would fan his face to rid himself of the blush staining his cheeks, but he doesn’t want to wriggle out of the hold the tall man has on him. He can’t believe this is _Chanyeol_ , the guy he has liked for so long, but tried not to interact with too much because he _always_ finds something to tease him about.

“Hey,” he sputters nevertheless, eyes drifting away from Chanyeol’s to instead rest on his chest. And a well-trained chest that is – Baekhyun gulps involuntarily. They fall into a short silence in which Baekhyun can’t help but just _look_ at what’s right under his nose.

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol suddenly says, drawing Baekhyun’s eyes right back up to his, a confused look on his face. What exactly is he sorry for? Waking him up with gentle touches to his face? Scratching his shoulder yesterday? For that innocent kiss last night? Upon his confusion, Chanyeol elaborates. “The prank I pulled on you, in Kyungsoo’s apartment.” _Oh_ that. Yeah Baekhyun has to admit – with an embarrassing pink color staining his cheeks – that he was scared out of his wits then. _Until_ he was in Chanyeol’s embrace and he had already forgiven him then. He realizes he never even told him that.

“That’s okay, I’ve been over that for a while,” Baekhyun says, a chuckle escaping his lips even though he’s so close to Chanyeol – who has _kissed_ him yesterday. Relief visibly washes over the werewolf’s face.

“Good. Because if that day never happened, I might not have gone after you, you might have been bitten instead,” he says and the way he bites the inside of his lip at the thought, all the while still tracing circles on Baekhyun’s cheek with his thumb, has the short man nearly pass out. He doesn’t even know why he’s so affected and tries to blame it on the idea that Chanyeol is an alpha now – _his_ alpha.

“I wished it was me instead though,” Baekhyun says in a soft voice, a little embarrassed to let the thoughts out. A wide smile plays on Chanyeol’s lips at the confession though.

“Are you out of your mind? I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on the way you looked at me – even when you didn’t know it was me. I bet you knew, am I right? You even called me by my name,” he says – _teases_ – and Baekhyun cowers away in the crook of the werewolf’s neck, because there’s nowhere else he can go. Nowhere that doesn’t include getting _away_ from Chanyeol, that is, and he doesn’t want that. It’s only when he realizes he _smiles_ , that he knows he likes the teasing – he probably always liked it. But since he had no idea if Chanyeol had feelings for _him_ , he couldn’t just accept it.

“I hoped it was you,” he replies in a muffled voice, even though he understands perfectly well that it was a rhetorical question and he didn’t have to answer. He takes note of the way Chanyeol shudders from his lips moving against the skin near his scar. “I’ve liked you for a long time,” he adds, out of the blue and shocks himself with his bluntness. To justify it, he adds, “so I thought I recognized the look in your eyes.” To Baekhyun’s surprise, the arm around his waist pulls him closer and he can feel Chanyeol burying his nose in his hair.

“I noticed,” Chanyeol says, sounding light-hearted and still, there’s a teasing edge to his voice. Baekhyun is merely glad he’s back to being himself instead of his serious, almost shy demeanor during the night it all started, with stupid games and too much alcohol. “As a wolf, apparently I’m very sensitive to that kind of thing.” There’s a comfortable silence in which Baekhyun merely revels in the scent of Chanyeol around – _against_ – him and trying his hardest to ignore the embarrassing fact that the werewolf is naked. Then, though, Chanyeol’s voice rumbles, startling him out of his embarrassment. “Would you… like to be my mate?”

“What?” Baekhyun mumbles, still muffled against the soft tissue of Chanyeol’s neck, close to his own bite mark. He pulls away to look at the taller male with confusion, repeats his question and sees the blush creep up Chanyeol’s neck. _Then_ he realizes what the werewolf just asked him. His eyes widen in shock, surprise.

“No I mean if you don’t want to get bitten I get that,” he says, flustered and from the look in his eyes, Baekhyun is scared that he’ll unintentionally shifts again, even though he’s by far not to that point again. He lays his hands soothingly on Chanyeol’s upper arms – those beautifully strong upper arms.

“Chanyeol don’t panic,” Baekhyun says, trying his very best to not panic himself because of the ridiculous request. So ridiculous even that Baekhyun considers it. Because why would his mind tell him it’s ridiculous in the first place? Didn’t he already feel that connection – didn’t he already refer to Chanyeol as _his_ alpha just now? Doesn’t he _already_ regard Chanyeol as his mate? He chuckles at the thought, feeling silly because he’s not even a _wolf_ , but since Chanyeol seems to steer away from his panic, Baekhyun doesn’t mind at all that he had the strange thought. “It’s okay. I’ll… consider it,” he says, maybe more carefully than he needs to.

Chanyeol slacks in his hold though and relief washes over Baekhyun’s own face. Nevertheless, there are things that bother him still and while he feels satisfied just drawing soothing circles on the soft skin of Chanyeol’s upper arms, he still brings up his troubles.

“But I really don’t want it to be rushed,” Baekhyun says, feeling a blush creep up his cheeks because he’s _imagining_ now and he _wants_ this bite to happen – and he wants it to be a special moment. He read in that book, after all, that it can be a great bonding experience. Chanyeol does nothing to hide the smile on his face, his eyebrows raised as he waits for more because that’s what Baekhyun’s voice suggested. “I don’t want it to happen here in this cabin – Jongdae is mortified enough as is.” To this, Chanyeol nods contemplatively, but he’s taken to tracing circles on Baekhyun’s hipbone now – effectively steering him in the direction of his last concern. “I _also_ don’t know what to think about the fact that I’ll be … _naked_ every time I–” Baekhyun doesn’t continue when Chanyeol snaps his eyes downwards, to his own body and his eyes are so wide and round, it would _almost_ be hilarious. If Baekhyun didn’t know what happens in Chanyeol’s shock, that is. “No, no, no wait, Chanyeol, calm down,” he says, but it’s too late.

With a grunt and a whine, a troubled expression and a pout, Chanyeol starts turning right back into his wolf form, not giving Baekhyun the time to get away. Large paws gracelessly push him off the couch with force, causing Baekhyun to hit the ground with the loudest of thuds. He winces and stares at Chanyeol, who stares right back at him, guilt easily distinguishable in his large, brown wolf eyes. Baekhyun shakes his head with a smile, is about to tell him that it’s not so bad, but Chanyeol jumps off the couch, nuzzling Baekhyun’s cheek and neck, lapping at his skin with his pink tongue.

It doesn’t take particularly long for Baekhyun to be a laughing mess, trying to push Chanyeol away, but the wolf is much stronger than he is. His violently wagging tail is what eventually makes Baekhyun stop trying and he just gives in to the apparently _consoling_ methods of the werewolf.

“What happened?” Jongdae asks groggily, effectively startling the strange couple on the ground. Jongdae stops in his tracks, swallows visibly and then turns his head, as if he just walked in on a couple heaving sex. “ _Guys_ , is this really the time and place?” he whines and Baekhyun laughs, before they both suddenly get serious and they’re not sure why. Maybe it’s Chanyeol and his pheromones, because the werewolf sits up straight instead of tackling Baekhyun to the ground now.

“We should get ready to get Kyungsoo back. You’re right Jongdae… I’m sorry for the PDA,” Baekhyun says, but Jongdae shrugs it off easily.

“Stop apologizing. Your… little _game_ actually woke me up so I guess I should be thankful for not wasting more time.”

 

Chanyeol seems more in control than he was yesterday, seeing as he’s able to turn back to his human form before they leave to find Kyungsoo again. This time, he found his clothes and almost embarrassedly puts them on. When they step outside, everyone freshly showered and fed well, he creeps closer to Baekhyun.

“Was I naked _every_ time?” he whispers and Baekhyun can’t help but laugh at the horror audible in his voice. He waits a little while before answering, just to look at his face – all anticipation and hope that Baekhyun can’t turn into reality.

“Yeah. Thankfully nobody really paid attention to that when you were lunging at the other wolf,” Baekhyun says, a grin on his face and Chanyeol looks like he wants to hide, but composes himself. There are a few words on Baekhyun’s tongue that want to roll off – but he doesn’t know if he has the courage. But as he’s contemplating, looking at the tall male beside him, Chanyeol raises his brows in question. Baekhyun flushes red in embarrassment, but can’t keep the words to himself – it’s that alpha thing again, he’s _sure_. “You’ve got nothing to worry about with that body of yours, though,” he mutters in the smallest voice he can muster – but Chanyeol hears particularly well and it results in another tackle of his body, this time to be cradled in strong arms, though. Baekhyun is _so_ glad Jongdae took the lead this time and isn’t in the slightest aware of the embarrassing situation. His face is peppered with kisses and Baekhyun chuckles, more than just a little happy to have some of the stress dissipate before they’ll confront the other wolf, Jongin, again.


	6. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to put up a warning-- I would have given this chapter a mature rating but I don't know how I should do that. The violence will be a bit more violent in this, I guess, and there's also references to sex because these boys are getting a bit turned on with each other. Nothing will be too explicit though! I hope ;;   
> This is also part of a double update since I didn't have time to update yesterday! TT

When they arrive at the small row of houses, Baekhyun feels fidgety again. He doesn’t want Chanyeol to be the only one to be able to do anything, but he can’t help it that he’s just a human. Maybe it would have been for the best if he’d allowed Chanyeol to bite him just now in the cabin… but there’s no changing the past and he won’t allow himself to think that they won’t be alright like this. Of course they’ll rescue Kyungsoo, they have to.   
“They’re not here,” Chanyeol mentions, startling both Baekhyun and Jongdae from their thoughts. “Their smell is faded.” Baekhyun feels fear grip his heart because if they’re… gone… “Don’t worry, I can still track them,” Chanyeol says, resting his hand on top of Baekhyun’s shoulder and when the short man looks up at him, he knows he means it. Thankfully, he doesn’t just say it to comfort him.   
“Which way?” Jongdae asks. Baekhyun notices there’s a fierceness in his eyes that he hasn’t seen before. Chanyeol raises his hand to point behind the houses and Jongdae doesn’t need anything more to stride forward again. Baekhyun follows and feels Chanyeol grab his hand. When he looks up again, Chanyeol has his gaze fixed in the distance and though the fluttering in his stomach comes at the wrong time, Baekhyun can’t deny it.   
“Since it’s the full moon tonight,” he starts and Chanyeol looks at him now, “are you in control of your changing now?” Chanyeol smiles before he looks back ahead, giving a more detailed direction to Jongdae because he seemed to have gotten a little off track.   
“I think I am,” the tall man answers and squeezes Baekhyun’s hand a little, “I also feel a lot stronger. And my hearing and sense of smell are better,” he adds and Baekhyun frowns a little.  
“How do you know for sure?” Chanyeol answers too quickly.  
“They’ve gone pretty far away, but I can sense them clearly,” he explains and this time, Jongdae turns around to join in the conversation.   
“Do we even still stand a chance?” the short man asks and Baekhyun sees the worry lines on his face, even though he doesn’t seem to be any less determined to get their friend back. Chanyeol uses his other hand to give Jongdae a gentle shove to get back on the move again.   
“We do. I think.” Baekhyun frowns at this answer. Chanyeol is supposed to be an alpha – he’s supposed to be strong and decisive. Reliable.   
“Of course we do. I suggest we run,” he therefore says, looking up at Chanyeol with a hopeful smile that is returned with an embarrassed chuckle.   
“Let’s do that.” 

They hold small breaks, but overall, they move as fast as they can. Nevertheless, the sky darkening slightly tells them they don’t have much time left. Several times, Chanyeol tells them their scents are getting stronger, but Baekhyun feels himself getting exhausted. Jongdae seems to be in a similar condition and both hope that the search will be over soon. Then, though, Chanyeol suddenly stills and when Baekhyun looks at him, he sees his face is dark with anger – but the way his brows are furrowed, shows confusion as well.  
“He’s asking him to bite him,” Chanyeol says, then growls deep in his throat, canines slowly appearing and a shiver runs down Baekhyun’s spine at the pheromones he’s emitting. “As if Kyungsoo’s some lowly omega only living to please some fucking beta!” he roars, then starts running again, Baekhyun following him as fast as he can because he knows Chanyeol needs to be stopped. He’ll do something reckless, he can just feel it. “Kyungsoo’s smart, he doesn’t need a beta, yet he’s standing there, begging!”   
“Chanyeol calm down,” Jongdae says, surprising Baekhyun, because all Baekhyun tries to do, is reach out for his… his mate – and it’s not working because Chanyeol is fast. Nevertheless, the werewolf doesn’t listen to Jongdae and simply keeps running on forward – until they reach a clearing less than a minute later.   
Baekhyun only has a moment to take in all that he sees. The clearing is about fifty square meters and in the middle, a large, flat stone rests in the flickering appearance of the moon’s light. The light is blocked by clouds and because it’s only twilight, it’s not giving off a powerful feel. Nevertheless, Baekhyun knows it is, because on the flat stone lies Kyungsoo. Ready to be bitten and turned, ready to let himself be taken away from his friends. Jongin hovers over the short man, but is distracted and the look on his face shows he’s displeased the group of friends have come all the way here. Maybe even in time to stop him.   
Because Chanyeol charges – and so does Jongdae. Baekhyun yells because what the hell is going on all of a sudden? He runs too, tries to grasp for his mate’s shirt, but fails because Chanyeol is faster and left maybe a few seconds before Baekhyun did.   
“You’re part of my pack!” Chanyeol roars and a sting of envy slows Baekhyun down further. Why is he being like this? Of course Kyungsoo is supposed to be with them, they’re friends, but … but it sounds so possessive? Vaguely, Baekhyun hears Jongdae’s voice.   
“Behave yourself, for fuck’s sake,” he says loudly, on the verge of panicking because when Baekhyun looks straight ahead, he sees it happening. Jongin’s teeth sink in Kyungsoo’s flesh, a split second before Chanyeol runs into him and pushes him away, hurting Kyungsoo in the process because of the canines still piercing his skin.   
Baekhyun’s head pounds. He can barely make out the sounds he’s hearing. Kyungsoo wails in pain, Jongin and Chanyeol are fighting and Jongdae sobs, kneeling next to the other short man. They were too late. Baekhyun hears clothes rip and his eyes snap towards the two fighting werewolves, seeing them change. Chanyeol barely shows any discomfort, he has the upper hand because he’s larger, but Jongin doesn’t back down so quickly.   
And then it hits Baekhyun. He doesn’t back down because Kyungsoo might just be his mate – just like what he is to Chanyeol. Chanyeol would fight for him like this, should fight for him like this, but not Kyungsoo. If he heard him ask to be bitten, he should let him go. Like a proper alpha, he should let Kyungsoo make that decision for himself. It’s not like pack members are supposed to stay together – Kyungsoo was unmated after all.   
“Will he be alright?” Baekhyun asks when he approaches Jongdae first, crouching down to look at Kyungsoo’s condition. His shoulder is bleeding terribly and he clutches it with his other hand.   
“How – how can you be so calm all of a sudden?” Jongdae asks him instead of answering his question, but Baekhyun knows why he doesn’t. Of course he won’t know if Kyungsoo will be alright. “At this rate, everyone’s going to die,” he continues in a small voice and Baekhyun shakes his head shortly.   
“Of course not. I’m going to knock sense into Chanyeol right now. I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but this is entirely not right,” he says, but stops when Kyungsoo’s eyes meet his.  
“I’m sorry,” he says, voice sounding strained because he’s in pain, but Baekhyun frowns.  
“You were held hostage,” Baekhyun retorts, waving off the apology, “and you’re free to make your own choices. Chanyeol had no right to do what he did,” he continues and swallows away the unease he feels at the mere thought of having to confront the alpha about it. His alpha – his mate.   
Nevertheless, he runs and he doesn’t let fear get in his way now. Very soon, he approaches the two fighting wolves, seeing both have already been hurt way too much. He feels it in his own chest, constricting and nauseating, because there was no need for this. Kyungsoo asked to be bitten and Jongin complied because he had to.   
“Chanyeol,” he calls and sees said wolf stiffen up for just a split second. Jongin doesn’t use this time to charge and because of it, Baekhyun continues. “Chanyeol stop this right now. Kyungsoo isn’t yours to claim – I am. And I’m right here. Kyungsoo made a choice,” he continues and as he does, he approaches the wolf. The animal stands tall, but has to look up at Baekhyun when he gets closer and the small man feels a strange sort of power, calmness. Jongdae had commented on it before and he had already realized it earlier as well – Baekhyun isn’t an omega and Chanyeol might not be the only alpha in their pack. “Chanyeol I’m here,” he says when he gets on his knees, taking the wolf’s face in his hands. He’s wounded and his teeth drip with blood and Baekhyun swallows when he examines his condition. Then, though, he looks him in the eyes.   
The look in Chanyeol’s eyes changes quickly. He doesn’t look aggressive and he flickers his eyes downwards for a moment and Baekhyun strangely knows what he means to say with that. Baekhyun won the argument and Chanyeol knows he was wrong. Baekhyun lets go when he notices the body in front of him changing and he sighs, because he doesn’t have to carry this burden alone anymore. Even though he feels that if he would turn, he might be an alpha as well, he doesn’t know if he can lead like that – he likes the comfort Chanyeol brings when he’s in control of himself. 

When everyone has calmed down and Chanyeol has picked up the pieces of his clothing to cover himself with, they all surround Kyungsoo. Jongin sits furthest away because even though he wouldn’t admit it, Chanyeol scared the living daylights out of him just now. Jongdae has skillfully bandaged up Kyungsoo’s shoulder with remaining pieces of clothing and he’s the one who holds the small man’s hand to soothingly rub circles on his skin.   
“Kyungsoo…” Chanyeol starts, hesitant, and the tremble is audible in his voice. It’s unlike him and Baekhyun frowns worriedly, but he won’t say anything. “I’m sorry. I just… I vowed to save you and we were too late. I can’t – I can’t just accept the thought that you’d leave us for him… someone who forcefully took you from us,” he explains and Baekhyun understands. To be fair, everyone understands. Yet, it isn’t right, not in this situation.   
“He needs me,” Kyungsoo says, determined, but Baekhyun believes he hears guilt. “Just like you need Baek,” he elaborates in a much softer tone of voice because Chanyeol doesn’t seem to understand. With those words, though, he snaps his eyes to his mate, but he looks away with a frown. “I’ll stay here, with Jongin. He will take care of me.” 

Chanyeol leaves without a word, shooting a glare at Jongin, but the beta doesn’t do any other than glance at his mate in worry. Jongdae vows to come back for his friend and Baekhyun is torn. He wants to properly say goodbye at least, but it’s dark and his mate is leaving and he has to be there for him – as much as he needs Chanyeol. He’s sure Kyungsoo will understand. After all, he knows of their bond without anyone telling him.   
   
Baekhyun and Chanyeol keep in closer contact than before, but they’re both still living in their respective apartments. Baekhyun holds back and he’s not sure why – they’re mates after all. He feels they went too fast on the trip – but it was so natural that he knows that’s not the case. Maybe he’s scared, or maybe he’s less than happy with the way Chanyeol stopped being friendly to Kyungsoo. That’s not how an alpha should act, at least not according to Baekhyun. Of course there are different views on what an alpha should be like and maybe Chanyeol just wants to come off as decisive – but Baekhyun is decisive as well. All he wants, is for their group to be together again, living a different life than before, but a more fulfilling one as well.   
Not as friends who try to stay in contact with one another desperately, but as a pack. Like family. But when he thinks about it like that, the thought that he isn’t even a wolf bothers him so much, that he pushes it away again. And yes, Baekhyun has been keeping a close eye out for when the next full moon is supposed to be and he’s done waiting. Because he wants to get bitten, he’s not going to wait another month, even though Chanyeol disagrees with him on Kyungsoo and Jongin. Besides, Jongdae messaged him that he went to visit Kyungsoo a little while ago, saying that Kyungsoo missed them.   
Maybe the most important reason why Baekhyun wants to get bitten already, though, is that he can’t have sex with his mate like this. Chanyeol would knot him – and he wants that – but his body can’t handle any such thing. Each time they meet up and make time for each other, they kiss and they touch – and then they have to break it all off. It’s more than frustrating, seeing those canines glistening before they hover over his skin, but then retracting again and Chanyeol pulling away with a grunt. 

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun says over the phone, hearing how his voice drops lower in arousal – and he doesn’t even care anymore. He’s sure the tall man already knows what he wants to say, it would be highly unlikely that he doesn’t know of the celestial event of tonight.   
“Yeah?” he replies and the breathy sound sends shivers down Baekhyun’s spine. A smile spreads over his lips, though, he’s ready for this now.   
“Do you think you can come over?” he asks, absentmindedly feeling around his neck for where he hopefully will get bitten very soon. Then, though, his doorbell sounds and Baekhyun frowns in disbelief. “Oh, wait a second, some idiot is at my door right now,” he tells Chanyeol, even though he’s normally never verbally aggressive. He knows it has everything to do with the full moon and his desire. Normally, he wouldn’t hold his phone to his ear while opening the door either – but normally, Chanyeol wouldn’t stand there with a smirk on his lips. Baekhyun freezes, his eyebrows slowly rising in confusion.   
“I honestly started thinking you’d never call,” Chanyeol says, ending the call and taking Baekhyun’s phone from his fingers. “I’ve been standing here for over an hour.” At that, a smile spreads across the small man’s lips.   
“And… what exactly stopped you from ringing that bell earlier?” he asks, stepping back and Chanyeol eagerly follows him inside his apartment. But unlike what Baekhyun imagined earlier, Chanyeol keeps his hands to himself and though his mind tries to come up with answers, he can’t.   
“You’ve been going all alpha on me with not moving in with me, holding off on dates, telling me to reconsider the Kyungsoo situation – I thought you might want to take the first step tonight as well,” Chanyeol says and the smile on his face is so sugary sweet that Baekhyun knows he teases him again. Baekhyun’s cheeks flush easily because though the werewolf doesn’t initiate any contact, he does lean dangerously close to him – as if daring him to do something about it. “You smell good tonight,” Chanyeol whispers, breath ghosting over Baekhyun’s nape and chills run down his spine. His hands travel up to thread through Chanyeol’s hair, causing the werewolf to step even closer to him, finally allowing himself to touch Baekhyun. And the small man gasps when his large hands grip his waist, much more forcefully than the times before.   
“No more big and gentle Yeol?” Baekhyun asks, a little breathless when he chuckles, Chanyeol only pulls him closer and kisses his neck before answering.  
“Well. I can only turn you once. And to be fair, it’s turning me on – a lot,” he adds, now looking Baekhyun in the eyes and the small man swallows. No matter whether he’d be an alpha himself – this is his alpha and Baekhyun feels himself getting weak in the knees. It’s visible, apparently, because Chanyeol chuckles when he deliberately pushes Baekhyun’s smaller body, holding him up with his hands still on his waist. “Okay I know you’re not an omega, but I kind of like it when you submit,” the werewolf confesses when he plants Baekhyun on the couch and straddles his smaller body.   
“Oh my god you have to stop talking to me like that,” Baekhyun whines, but doesn’t resist the touches to the sides of his body. Even through his clothes, Chanyeol’s hands feel hot on his skin.   
“Like what?” Chanyeol asks in his breathy, deep voice and Baekhyun can’t resist laughing, throwing his head back. Unconsciously, he gives the werewolf perfect view of where his canines should pierce.   
“Like that and you know it,” Baekhyun says, drawing his fingers up Chanyeol’s jaw, noticing easily how entranced he is by looking at his neck. He takes a moment to take in Chanyeol’s expression, but then brings the werewolf’s lips to his own. In the kiss, he traces the growing canines with his tongue and he feels Chanyeol’s entire body tensing up. Baekhyun uses the moment to pull away, though barely. “Go on, do it,” he urges in a whisper and the low growl he hears right next to his ear only a split second later, has Baekhyun shivering.   
“Your clothes will rip,” Chanyeol mutters, letting his fingers run down the fabric of his shirt and without much thinking, Baekhyun stops him by grabbing his hand.  
“Do I look like I care?” There’s a hint of a smile on his face and Chanyeol laughs, baring his glistening canines, the sight having a bigger effect on Baekhyun’s body than he anticipated.  
“I guess not,” is Chanyeol’s simple reply and he leans back down, savoring the moment.   
Baekhyun lets his head rest on the backrest of the couch now, his fingers in Chanyeol’s soft strands of hair again. He feels the warm tip of Chanyeol’s tongue run over his skin and to it, Baekhyun gasps, then feels the cooler air hit him. He wants to whine because he can’t take the suspense, but soon enough, Chanyeol kisses the spot. Baekhyun can’t hold back a moan when the werewolf sucks gently and his fingers dig more forcefully in Chanyeol’s scalp. The result is a low groan against his skin that he feels more than he hears.   
Teeth graze Baekhyun’s skin and he holds his breath, anticipates, but Chanyeol wants to drag it out as long as he can – it will be the only time he’ll ever turn him after all. Once more, Chanyeol wets the skin with his tongue, but when Baekhyun doesn’t expects it anymore, he sinks his teeth in.   
Baekhyun throws his head back and his mouth opens in a moan. It’s not painful – not at all – but instead, Baekhyun feels as if he’s on a high without even touching himself. That feeling is only intensified because Chanyeol watches him, then leans back down to lick the leaking drops of blood from the juncture between his neck and shoulder. Again, Baekhyun feels him moan against his skin and only then, he starts shifting.   
For the first time, Baekhyun sees his room and his mate without seeing reds and greens. He can smell so much better though – he smells Chanyeol’s arousal. Possibly his own as well. He doesn’t think much of it when he nuzzles against Chanyeol’s face, feeling comfortable in his new skin. It’s almost impossible for him to imagine Chanyeol went through hell when he first turned – and every time that followed until he could control it well.   
Timing is just that important, he learns. Well, it’s not just that. The fact that Baekhyun and Chanyeol were mates before the bite, has eased the process tenfold. They end up making love soon after, when Baekhyun reverts back to his human form. It’s not what he expected – but then again, he couldn’t have expected what it’s like to be with his mate. 

It’s not uncommon for two alphas to fall in love. In fact, in packs of wild wolves, it’s always two alphas leading. Baekhyun chuckles when he thinks of that. Of course he likes to submit to Chanyeol – Chanyeol is the teasing boy who scared the hell out of him when it was dark, the teasing boy who loves making him blush. He’s also the man he loves, the werewolf he depends on – and the werewolf who depends on him.  
That’s how they end up at Jongin’s house in the woods. Kyungsoo contacted Jongdae more than once and Jongdae eventually managed to relay those words to Baekhyun. And of course, as soon as Baekhyun turned, he was as much alpha as Chanyeol. Now, he holds as much authority. The reunion with Kyungsoo was a little difficult at first, especially between him and Chanyeol, but the smaller male shed tears and Chanyeol… is a sucker for tears, apparently.   
“I know things have gone weirdly and I admit I was wrong,” Jongin announces, almost formally when he bows to the two alphas sitting on his couch and Baekhyun feels himself getting uncomfortable. The situation has already been explained and he can’t handle another apology.  
“Yes. So how about we form a new pack?” he cuts in before Jongin can say sorry, or Chanyeol can ruin it by saying things he doesn’t like. “We’ll make our own, new rules. I won’t pretend it never happened and you will have to learn some manners,” Baekhyun continues, from his spot on the couch and at that, Chanyeol actually laughs.   
“You realize Jongin here is almost a head taller than you?” he teases and Baekhyun flushes, but whacks his mate on the thigh anyway.  
“Yes. And I’m his alpha–”  
“Only if he agrees,” Chanyeol butts in, quietly admitting he agrees.  
“I do. I mean, I agree. I… want us to be a pack. And I’ll behave,” the beta tells them quietly and Kyungsoo reaches out to hug him around the waist. Baekhyun sees the tension leave the taller wolf’s body and he sighs. Before he can say anything, though, Chanyeol does.  
“Good. So, what do we do with you, Jongdae? Ready to get turned?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I want to say thank you so much for reading my story and I really hope you liked it! <3


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